News Releases

Coast Guard promotes safety on the water at upcoming boat show

2012-02-07T23:09:24Z

LOS ANGELES — Coast Guard Auxiliary is among a number of organizations that will be promoting boating safety during the 56^th annual Los Angeles Boat Show, which runs from Feb. 9 - 12 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

The groups will be highlighting best practices as well as regulatory information to prepare boaters to be safe and legal while operating vessels coastally and on lakes. All of the partner booths will have trained personnel available to answer questions and provide handouts with multi-media displays.

Details on how to obtain a free vessel safety check and find a boating safety course will be provided. For more information on the Los Angeles Boat Show, go to www.losangelesboatshow.com or http://www.facebook.com/LABoatShow.

Additional boating safety resources can be found online at California Department of Boating & Waterways at http://www.dbw.ca.gov; National Safe Boating Council at http://www.safeboatingcouncil.org, and the U.S. Coast Guard at http://www.uscgboating.org/, and locally at http://d11s.org.

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed, volunteer, civilian component of the Coast Guard who assist in most of its varied missions, especially the promotion of recreational boating safety. These professionally-trained men and women can be found on the nation’s waterways, in the air, or in classrooms, performing maritime domain awareness patrols, search and rescue, vessel safety checks and public education. Founded in 1939 by the U.S. Congress, today its nearly 30,000 members contribute millions of hours annually in support of Coast Guard missions. Additional information can be found at http://cgaux.org/ .

Coast Guard expects higher frequency use of Torrance Airport during pilot checks

2012-02-03T18:19:08Z

LOS ANGELES – Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles personnel will be completing their annual flight crew standardization checks from Feb. 1st through the 11^th.

Residents living near the Torrance Airport can expect to see and hear the air station’s MH-65 Dolphin helicopters more frequently during that time period. In an effort to reduce the frequency of flights near Torrance, multiple airports are being used throughout the Los Angeles area.

Every Coast Guard air station must complete the two-week check, conducted by Coast Guard instructors from the service’s training center in Mobile, Alabama.

The purpose of the flight checks is to test a pilot’s ability to handle emergencies like an engine failure and other critical facets of being a military aviator.

The Coast Guard fully recognizes the impacts caused by the noise of the helicopters and is taking all possible steps to keep the flights as short as possible. These checks will be conducted primarily during the hours of 9 a. m. and 5 p. m.

Coast Guard suspends search for missing kayaker

2011-12-31T04:48:01Z

LOS ANGELES - The Coast Guard has suspended their search for a man who went missing while kayaking yesterday near Point Dume, Malibu, Calif., at approximately 4 p.m. Dec. 30, 2011.

The Coast Guard searched 110-square miles for approximately 23 hours using a 45-foot rescue boat crew and the 87-foot patrol boat Halibut.

The Coast Guard started search efforts after Baywatch Malibu located an unmanned kayak containing a paddle and a life jacket and notified Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles - Long Beach.

The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department also assisted with search efforts including providing a helicopter at the outset of the case.

Coast Guard searches for missing kayaker near Malibu

2011-12-30T01:38:20Z

LOS ANGELES-The U.S. Coast Guard and Baywatch Malibu are searching for a missing kayaker near Malibu, Calif., Dec. 29, 2011.

The missing man was reportedly assisting another kayaker when he vanished from sight approximately 1.5 miles east of Point Dume, Malibu.

Baywatch units reportedly found an empty kayak containing a life jacket and a paddle in the search area.

The Coast Guard received the initial call from Baywatch at around 3 p.m.

Shortly after notification, a rescue boat crew from Coast Guard Station Los Angeles was dispatched to the area to aid in the search.

Coast Guard rescues three; monitors vessel adrift

2011-12-19T02:07:57Z

SAN PEDRO, Calif. - The Coast Guard rescued three commercial fishermen after their 33-foot vessel became disabled and began drifting dangerously close to the rocks off of the westernmost point of San Miguel Island in the Channel Islands chain, at about 4 p.m. Sunday.

A Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles hoisted the trio and flew them back to Santa Barbara, Calif., with no injuries.

The drama began when the commercial fishing boat, based out of Santa Barbara, became disabled about 100 yards from the rocks. The men dropped an anchor but it quickly broke free and the second anchor started to drag in the direction of the shoreline. The master radioed the Coast Guard for help at about 2:30 p.m.

Before hoisting the men, the Coast Guard directed them to set off their Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon so Command Center and environmental response personnel could keep tabs of the vessel. The last position of the boat was roughly 35 yards from the rocks.

Coast Guard environmental response personnel are monitoring the vessel because it is reported to have about 40 gallons of fuel onboard and may come aground in an environmentally sensitive area.

A Coast Guard helicopter is scheduled to conduct an early morning flight to further inspect the vessel's position at that time.

The weather at the time of the rescue were sea swells ranging from eight to ten feet, with 20 knot winds. Those conditions are expected to worsen over night.

Advanced communication system helps Coast Guard save 4 prepared boaters

2011-12-08T16:41:52Z

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – The Coast Guard rescued four boaters after their 26-foot boat sunk about 13 miles northeast of Avalon Harbor on Catalina Island, Calif., at about 9:30 p.m. Monday.

Coast Guard Command Center personnel heard three quick mayday calls via VHF radio channel 16, but were not given a location of the boaters in distress. Using the Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 communication system, watchstanders were able to pinpoint the origin of the radio transmission.

Command Center personnel also received an electronic notification from an emergency personal locator beacon that the owner of the boat was wearing. Using the registered contact information, the boater’s wife was able to provide the Coast Guard with a description of the men and boat, route, and destination of the group.

A MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Los Angeles was launched and located the four men floating in the water, rescuing three. A 45-foot Response Boat Medium from Station Los Angeles-Long arrived and rescued the fourth boater and picked up the helicopter rescue swimmer.

A 25-foot response boat from Maritime Safety and Security Team Los Angeles-Long Beach and the 87-footer Coast Guard cutter Blackfin were diverted to assist in the search for vessel debris. Avalon Baywatch was called and assisted in the search efforts as well.

The Coast Guard wants to commend these boaters for greatly increasing their own chances of survival, which allowed rescuers to reach them by:

Telling a friend or family member the departure location, route and destination of trip
Having and using a marine radio
Owning and registering a Personal Locator Beacon
All four boaters were wearing lifejackets
All four boaters were wearing cold water survival suits

The men were evaluated by emergency medical technicians and found to be suffering from only minor hypothermia and were released.

Rescue 21 is the Coast Guard’s advanced command, control and communications system. Created to improve the ability to assist mariners in distress and save lives and property at sea, the system is currently being installed in stages across the United States.

To learn more about Rescue 21, click http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/rescue21/default.asp

Coast Guard shares a boater's holiday wish list

2011-12-02T19:11:15Z

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – As the winter holidays draw near and shoppers search for gift ideas, the Coast Guard would like to recommend a few gifts that could save a loved one’s life.

If you know someone who spends time on the water, either in motor boats or paddle boats, some great gift ideas are safety gear.

A boater’s wish list should contain the following gifts to be in compliance with California boating laws:

Lifejackets: Every person on any boat or kayak must wear a Coast Guard-approved lifejacket. For motor boats over 16 feet, the law requires an extra throwable floatation device.
Sound Producing Devices: Every motor boat or paddle boat must have some means of producing an effective sound signal.
EPIRB: An Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon’s are a tool that sends out a signal so the Coast Guard can pinpoint the location of a boat in trouble, drastically reducing search time.
Marine Radio: Buying a marine radio for someone will allow us to communicate with them if they are ever in trouble in the water.
GPS: A GPS will allow boaters to find their way safely at sea and in the case of an emergency it will let them accurately tell us where they are.
Signaling Devices: Flare guns, pencil flares, mirrors, parachute flares are all great ways for your loved one to get the attention of other boaters or the Coast Guard if they run into trouble on the water. These devices are only required by law in boat’s less than 16 feet and paddle boats when operating between sunrise and sunset.
Fire Extinguishers: the old ones expire; make sure they’re up to date to fight a fire.

For more information on boating safety, please visit http://www.uscgboating.org/

Coast Guard conducts medevac off Catalina Island

2011-11-21T03:51:15Z

SAN PEDRO, Calif. — The Coast Guard conducted a medevac of a 50-year-old male from Catalina Island due to medical concerns, Nov. 20, 2011.

A MH-65C Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles, joined by a Los Angeles County Fire Department paramedic, transported the man from Catalina Island to Torrance Memorial Medical Center, where he is receiving further medical attention.

Although the nature of distress in this case was not maritime-related, this operation highlights the Coast Guard's ability to assist partner agencies to help those in need, no matter the situation.

Coast Guard releases Port Access Route Study for Channel Islands ship traffic

2011-11-10T17:51:16Z

click on image for hi-res version

SAN PEDRO, Calif. – The Coast Guard has completed a Port Access Route Study evaluating the vessel traffic lanes of ship approaches to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, as well as the Santa Barbara Channel. While the study is complete, the formal process of changing the traffic lanes is not yet final.

The study recommends the existing northern outbound traffic lane remain in place, that the width of separation zone between lanes be decreased, and that the southern inbound traffic lane shift one nautical mile to the north to move vessel traffic away from the Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary. It also recommends expanding the precautionary area outside the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

The study was conducted because of significant changes to the vessel traffic patterns after implementation of new cleaner fuel requirements for vessel transiting within 24 nautical miles of the California coast in July 2009.

A PARS is required before making any changes to existing traffic separation schemes, a process that includes coordination with interested stakeholders to reconcile the need for safe access routes with other waterway uses. The recommendations in this study require the approval of the International Maritime Organization prior to implementation. The Coast Guard will follow the Federal rulemaking process for implementation of any of the proposed changes.

During the study, data was collected and analyzed on traffic trends, fishing activity, recreational boat traffic, military activities, environmental factors and economic impacts.

LA-LB PARS Results Notice summary

LA-LB complete

Coast Guard launches environmental protection operation

2011-11-08T22:35:57Z

SAN PEDRO, Calif. - Coast Guard Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach has launched Operation Neptune's Rise, to locate derelict vessels that pose a possible pollution risk. The mission will run from Nov. 7th through the 30^th and will cover almost every port, harbor, marina, anchorage and yacht club between Morro Bay, Calif., and Dana Point, Calif.

“We must identify boats that pose a risk to our pristine California waters and shorelines,” said Coast Guard Capt. Roger Laferriere, the commanding officer of Sector Los Angeles-Long Beach.

A derelict vessel is defined as a vessel in which its structural integrity or its owners/operators negligence towards the vessel's maintenance poses a potential pollution threat to the environment.

Coast Guard pollution investigators will identify, document, and make recommendations for future actions involving derelict vessels.

The Coast Guard will ensure that vessel owners and marina managers are made aware of vessels deemed to pose an environmental threat so actions can be made to avoid any pollution releases.