ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Clearwater, conducts a search-and-rescue demonstration at the 2012 Sector St. Petersburg open house, Feb. 3, 2012. The SAR demonstration provided an opportunity for the community of St. Petersburg, Fla., to view a Coast Guard operation up close. 
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael De Nyse.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.- Children attending the 2012 Sector St. Petersburg's open house wave at a Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew from Station St. Petersburg, Feb. 3, 2012.The open house provided the community of St. Petersburg, Fla., the opportunity to view helicopter and vessel demonstrations, take vessel tours and gain safe boating knowledge.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael De Nyse.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Community members gather pier side in preparation for a search and rescue demonstration at the 2012 Sector St. Petersburg's open house, Feb. 3, 2012.The open house provided the community of St. Petersburg, Fla., the opportunity to view helicopter and vessel demonstrations, take vessel tours and gain safe boating knowledge.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael De Nyse.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — A crewman aboard the fishing vessel Julio Pedro was medevaced by the Coast Guard after it was reported he was suffering seizures approximately 67 miles west of Tarpon Springs, Fla., Thursday.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg watchstanders were notified by the captain of the Julio Pedro stating his crewman, 37, was suffering intermittent seizures and vomiting. After consulting the Coast Guard duty flight surgeon, a medevac was deemed necessary.

Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew who arrived on scene and lowered a swimmer to assess the situation. Due to the amount of gear on board the Julio Pedro, a water hoist was determined to be the safest way to get the man to safety.

The rescue swimmer helped the man put on his survival suit, placed him in the water and assisted with his safe hoist into the helicopter.

The injured crewmember was taken to Tampa General Hospital. 

The Coast Guard pilot involved in the rescue will be available for on camera interviews between 7 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. Friday. Any interested media please contact Lt. Cmdr. Bill Friday at 727-539-9140. 

MIAMI — Students from the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy in Miami participate in a Q&A session with retired Coast Guard captain and International Space Station Mission Commander Dan Burbank via video chat Feb. 2, 2012. The event also included an in-person Q&A session with U.S. Coast Guard Academy faculty and cadets. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nick Ameen.

MIAMI - Students from the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy watch a live video connection with Commander Dan Burbank, retired Coast Guard captain as he answers their questions aboard the International Space Station Feb. 2, 2012 at the MAST Academy. The initiative, which is organized by faculty members at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., is designed to boost the awareness of and to encourage interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer Sabrina Elgammal.

MIAMI – A student from Key Biscayne Community School in Miami asks Lt. Cmdr. Royce W. James, Ph.D Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff at U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., asks a question about the ozone layer Feb. 2, 2012 at the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy. Students got a chance to ask science questions and learn about Coast Guard missions and the life as a Cadet at the Coast Guard Academy before watching a live video connection with Commander Dan Burbank, retired Coast Guard captain as he answers their questions aboard the International Space Station. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sabrina Elgammal.

MIAMI- Lt. Cmdr. Royce W. James, Ph.D Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff at U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., talk to students from the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy and Key Biscayne Community School about physics Feb. 2, 2012 at the MAST Academy. Students got a chance to ask science questions and learn about Coast Guard missions and the life as a Cadet at the Coast Guard Academy before watching a live video connection with Commander Dan Burbank, retired Coast Guard captain as he answers their questions aboard the International Space Station. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sabrina Elgammal.

MIAMI – Lt. Cmdr. Royce W. James, Ph.D, Permanent Commissioned Teaching Staff at U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., prepares to be interviewed by Petty Officer 2nd Class Nick Ameen, a Public Affairs Specialist at 7th Coast Guard District Public Affairs Feb. 2, 2012 at the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy. During the interview James talked about his possible future in the astronaut program, the importance of Science to the Coast Guard and helping students purse their dreams. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 3rd Class Sabrina Elgammal.

MIAMI – Cadet Julia Kane, U.S. Coast Guard Academy hands out a prize to a Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy student for answering a science question correct Feb. 2, 2012 at the MAST Academy. Coast Guard members from the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., organized a visit to the MAST Academy so student can watch a live video connection with Commander Dan Burbank, retired Coast Guard captain as he answers their questions aboard the International Space Station to boost the awareness of and to encourage interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). U.S. Coast guard Photo by Petty Officer Sabrina Elgmamal.

MIAMI — Students from the Maritime and Science Technology (MAST) Academy will have a rare opportunity to pose questions Thursday to an astronaut in orbit aboard the International Space Station. 

The students will watch a live video connection with the ISS as Mission Commander Dan Burbank answers their questions from 11:15-11:35 a.m. 

The initiative, which is spearheaded by faculty members at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn., is designed to boost the awareness of and to encourage interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). Expedition 30 is currently underway aboard the ISS with Burbank, a retired Coast Guard captain. Burbank and most of his crew have been living and working on the station since Nov. 16. 

Students competed for a chance to pose their questions to Commander Burbank, with teachers selecting which questions would be asked. The questions run the gamut from routine to complex. One student wants to know if the ISS is involved in the study of ice in the mesosphere research and if this research will help control climate change.

Media interested in attending the event are requested to contact the 7th Coast Guard District public affairs staff at 305-415-6683.

WHO: MAST Academy students (9th-12th grade, 120 participants)

WHERE: 3979 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149

WHAT: Q&A with International Space Station Mission Commander Dan Burbank

WHEN: Thursday, 11 a.m.  

For background information on the program, contact Lt. Cmdr. Jess Rozzi-Ochs at 610-207-6453. 

To watch Burbank answer students' questions, tune in to NASA TV or view the live video feed at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html Thursday at 11:15 a.m. 

To learn more about Expedition 30 aboard the International Space Station, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/index.html

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Motor vessel Maersk Dellys pumps fuel out of the vessel's damaged fuel tank after a spill occurred in the Garden City Terminal, Tuesday Jan. 31, 2012. The Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Savannah is responding to the fuel spill and coordinating response efforts. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The Coast Guard continues to coordinate with the Motor Vessel Maersk Dellys in response to the report of a fuel leak at Garden City Terminal in Savannah Tuesday.

The leak originated from an approximate seven inch crack in the hull of the Motor Vessel Maersk Dellys.  Moran Environmental Response continues to maintain the containment boom around the vessel while fuel is removed from the damaged tank.

The vessel was taking on fuel at Garden City Terminal's berth number 8 when the vessel's crew discovered the leak and activated their vessel response plan. Temporary repairs have been made to the vessel's hull. Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Savannah personnel will continue to monitor ongoing operations.

There have been no reports of oil outside of the deployed containment boom.

Seamen Charles Gray, Jarrod Reed and Pablo Taborda Jr. were all standing lookout when the spotted survivors in the water two nautical miles away. Photo courtesy of Lt. j.g. Jason Veara.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Three local Coast Guardsmen were recognized as the Coast Guard's Shipmates of the Week for helping to rescue five fishermen off the southern coast of Jamaica Jan. 3 at 11 p.m.

Seaman Charles Gray of Norcross, Ga., Seaman Jarrod Reed of East Liverpool, Ohio, and Seaman Pablo Taborda, Jr. of Miami were standing lookout watch during a counter narcotics patrol aboard Coast Guard Cutter Venturous, which was encountering 12-foot seas and 35-knot winds at the time. The trio spotted a light in the distance in the punishing weather and reported it to the bridge.

“The OOD (officer of the day) thought it might be a buoy, but we were confident we had spotted something more than that,” said Taborda, who graduated Dec. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Whiskey 185 and had only been on patrol with Venturous four days. “Our commitment as Coast Guardsmen and our confidence as look outs made the OOD and the command want to check it out further.”

With no correlating radar contacts in the area, the crew of Venturous went to investigate the light. The crew used their forward looking infrared camera and spotted the five fishermen clinging to the wreckage of their sunken fishing vessel. The light the fishermen used to signal the lookouts was a cell phone that surprisingly survived the capsizing of the vessel. Gray, Reed and Taborda had spotted the cell phone light from more than two miles away in 12-foot seas.

“Even though you’re the lowest man on the totem pole, you’re still capable of making that big difference in somebody’s life,” said Reed, who graduated Sept. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Lima 185. “We were able to make a difference that night.”

Each recruit at Training Center Cape May receives lookout training as part of their basic training, but the Gray referenced another skill he learned at Training Center Cape May that is even more important.

“The most important thing I took away from training in Cape May is not to become complacent because that’s when someone can get hurt, or in this case, we could’ve very easily missed those guys,” said Gray, who graduated Sept. 23, 2012, with Recruit Company November 185. “They very well would be dead right now had we not seen them.”

Capt. Bill Kelly, the commanding officer of Training Center Cape May, will brief basic training recruits here Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the success of their shipmates already in the fleet and motivate them in their final weeks of training. Members of the media are invited to attend this event, which will lbegin at 10 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. Interviews with Kelly and the recruits will be available following Kelly’s brief presentation.

"What we do here is important, and it does make a difference," said Kelly. "The basically trained, physically fit, smartly disciplined non-rates we graduate week in and week out will be called upon to serve the day they step aboard their first units."

Note: For more information, please contact Donnie Brzuska at O: 609-898-6362, C: 609-224-0214 or E: donnie.c.brzuska@uscg.mil. Please click on the tumbnail above to download the high-resolution photo.

Seamen Charles Gray, Jarrod Reed and Pablo Taborda Jr. were all standing lookout when the spotted survivors in the water two nautical miles away. Photo courtesy of Lt. j.g. Jason Veara.

ATLANTA – A Norcross, Ga., native and two others were recognized as the Coast Guard's Shipmates of the Week  for helping to rescue five fishermen off the southern coast of Jamaica, Jan. 3 at 11 p.m.

Seaman Charles Gray of Norcross, Seaman Pablo Taborda, Jr. of Miami and Seaman Jarrod Reed of East Liverpool, Ohio, were standing lookout watch during a counter narcotics patrol aboard Coast Guard Cutter Venturous, which was encountering 12-foot seas and 35-knot winds at the time. The trio spotted a light in the distance in the punishing weather and reported it to the bridge.

“The OOD (officer of the day) thought it might be a buoy, but we were confident we had spotted something more than that,” said Taborda, who graduated Dec. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Whiskey 185 and had only been on patrol with Venturous four days. “Our commitment as Coast Guardsmen and our confidence as look outs made the OOD and the command want to check it out further.”

With no correlating radar contacts in the area, the crew of Venturous went to investigate the light. The crew used their forward looking infrared camera and spotted the five fishermen clinging to the

An image from Venturous’ infrared camera that shows the survivors waving for help. U.S. Coast Guard photo.

wreckage of their sunken fishing vessel. The light the fishermen used to signal the lookouts was a cell phone that surprisingly survived the capsizing of the vessel. Gray, Reed and Taborda had spotted the cell phone light from more than two miles away in 12-foot seas.

“Even though you’re the lowest man on the totem pole, you’re still capable of making that big difference in somebody’s life,” said Reed, who graduated Sept. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Lima 185. “We were able to make a difference that night.”

Each recruit at Training Center Cape May receives lookout training as part of their basic training, but the Gray referenced another skill he learned at Training Center Cape May that is even more important.

“The most important thing I took away from training in Cape May is not to become complacent because that’s when someone can get hurt, or in this case, we could’ve very easily missed those guys,” said Gray, who graduated Sept. 23, 2012, with Recruit Company November 185. “They very well would be dead right now had we not seen them.”

Capt. Bill Kelly, the commanding officer of Training Center Cape May, will brief basic training recruits here Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the success of their shipmates already in the fleet and motivate them in their final weeks of training. Members of the media are invited to attend this event, which will lbegin at 10 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. Interviews with Kelly and the recruits will be available following Kelly’s brief presentation.

"What we do here is important, and it does make a difference," said Kelly. "The basically trained, physically fit, smartly disciplined non-rates we graduate week in and week out will be called upon to serve the day they step aboard their first units."

Note: For more information, please contact Donnie Brzuska at O: 609-898-6362, C: 609-224-0214 or E: donnie.c.brzuska@uscg.mil. Please click on the tumbnails above to download the high-resolution photos.

MIAMI - Miami native and two others were recognized as the Coast Guard's Shipmates of the Week http://coastguard.dodlive.mil/2012/01/shipmate-of-the-week-sn-charles-gray-jarrod-reed-pablo-taborda/ for helping to rescue five fishermen off the southern coast of Jamaica Jan. 3, 2012.

Seaman Pablo Taborda, Jr. of Miami, Seaman Charles Gray of Norcross, Ga., and Seaman Jarrod Reed of East Liverpool, Ohio, were standing lookout watch during a counter narcotics patrol aboard Coast Guard Cutter Venturous, which was encountering 12-foot seas and 35-knot winds at the time. The trio spotted a light in the distance in the punishing weather and reported it to the bridge.

The OOD (officer of the day) thought it might be a buoy, but we were confident we had spotted something more than that,” said Taborda, who graduated Dec. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Whiskey 185 and had only been on patrol with Venturous four days. “Our commitment as Coast Guardsmen and our confidence as look outs made the OOD and the command want to check it out further.”

With no correlating radar contacts in the area, the crew of Venturous went to investigate the light. The crew used their forward looking infrared camera and spotted the five fishermen clinging to the wreckage of their sunken fishing vessel. The light the fishermen used to signal the lookouts was a cell phone that surprisingly survived the capsizing of the vessel. Gray, Reed and Taborda had spotted the cell phone light from more than two miles away in 12-foot seas.

“Even though you’re the lowest man on the totem pole, you’re still capable of making that big difference in somebody’s life,” said Reed, who graduated Sept. 9, 2011, with Recruit Company Lima 185. “We were able to make a difference that night.”

Each recruit at Training Center Cape May receives lookout training as part of their basic training, but the Gray referenced another skill he learned at Training Center Cape May that is even more important.

“The most important thing I took away from training in Cape May is not to become complacent because that’s when someone can get hurt, or in this case, we could’ve very easily missed those guys,” said Gray, who graduated Sept. 23, 2012, with Recruit Company November 185. “They very well would be dead right now had we not seen them.”

Capt. Bill Kelly, the commanding officer of Training Center Cape May, will brief basic training recruits here Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the success of their shipmates already in the fleet and motivate them in their final weeks of training. Members of the media are invited to attend this event, which will lbegin at 10 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. Interviews with Kelly and the recruits will be available following Kelly’s brief presentation.

"What we do here is important, and it does make a difference," said Kelly.  "The basically trained, physically fit, smartly disciplined non-rates we graduate week in and week out will be called upon to serve the day they step aboard their first units."   

Note: For more information, please contact Donnie Brzuska at O: 609-898-6362, C: 609-224-0214 or E: donnie.c.brzuska@uscg.mil. Please click on the link above for high-resolution photos.

SAVANNAH, Ga. - Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Savannah is responding to reports of a fuel spill at Garden City Terminal in Savannah, Tuesday.

Colonial Oil Industries alerted the Coast Guard at 1:50 a.m., Tuesday, that during bunkering operations Motor Vessel Maersk Dellys experienced a fuel leak.

Moran Environmental arrived on scene at the terminal and had boom in place containing the source by 4 a.m., and is currently deploying an additional 1000-feet of boom around the vessel.

Crewmembers of Maersk Dellys have located the source of the leak and Coast Guard personnel are coordinating response efforts.

The cause of the fuel leak is under investigation and amount of fuel leaked is currently unknown.

                               

TAMPA BAY, Fla. – Petty Officer 1^st Class Eric Lyle, (left photo) coxswain at Coast Guard Station Sector St. Petersburg and Tim Teahan, member of Coast Guard Auxiliary, tell the public how to best prepare themselves before they head out to sea for the 2012 Gasparilla Pirate Fest at a press briefing held at the Tampa Bay Gandy Boat Ramp, Friday.
U.S. Coast Guard and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) officers will team up with local law enforcement agencies to keep waterways safe during the upcoming Gasparilla celebration in downtown Tampa, Jan. 28. Officers will conduct boating safety inspections targeting boaters operating under the influence of alcohol or drugs and providing educational information.

U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty officer 3^rd Class Michael De Nyse.