Maritime Search
Two Bodies Found Inside Sunken Yacht off Sicily
Scuba divers scouring the wreck of British tech magnate Mike Lynch's family yacht, which sank off Sicily two days ago, have found two bodies inside it, a source close to rescue operations said on Wednesday.One of the bodies belonged to a heavily built man, the source said.Rescue officials have been looking for six missing people, including Lynch, his 18-year-old daughter and Jonathan Bloomer, a non-executive chair of Morgan Stanley International.The British-flagged Bayesian, a 56-meter-long (184-ft) superyacht…
Aggressive Killer Whales Batter Sailboats off Spain and Portugal, Maritime Authorities Warn
Orcas behavior of battering sailboats off Spain and Portugal baffles expertsThere are many mysteries in the maritime environment. For Sailors along Spain and Portugal’s Atlantic coastline, there has been a recent series of puzzling incidents involving apparently aggressive orcas.While orcas are not known to attack humans, they can cause damage to boats. In a series of incidents along the Spanish and Portuguese coasts between Gibraltar and Galicia, groups of orcas have been recorded swimming near sailboats and other vessels…
British Golden Globe Yachtswoman Rescued by Cargo Ship
British solo round-the-world yachtswoman Susie Goodall was rescued by a cargo ship on Friday after her boat capsized and lost its mast during a violent storm in the southern Pacific Ocean.The 29-year-old, the youngest entrant in the Golden Globe race, had waited two days for the Hong Kong-registered Tian Fu to arrive after sending a distress signal from 2,000 nautical miles west of Cape Horn.The signal was picked up by Falmouth Coastguard in southwest England, with the alert passed on to race control and the Chilean maritime search and rescue authorities."ON THE SHIP!!!," she said on her Twitter feed after the rescue.Race organisers had earlier reporte
Maritime Distress Beacon Gains North American Approval
Orolia’s McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) has been approved by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and Innovation, Science and Economic Development (ISED) Canada.The world’s first EPIRB to contain both the international 406 MHz alert frequency and the localized rescue power of the Automatic Identification System (AIS), the McMurdo SmartFind G8 AIS is now ready to order for leisure and commercial maritime use across the U.S.
Man Earns Jail Time for Hoax Coast Guard Calls
A man found guilty of making numerous hoax calls to the U.K. Coastguard has been jailed for four months, the U.K. Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) reported. Alasdair Munro, 55, from Kyleakin, Skye, denied all charges before Sheriff Scott at Portree Sheriff Court on August 27, 2015, but was found guilty of an offence contrary to the Communications Act 2003 section 127, according to the MCA. Munro had reportedly called HM Coastguard several times on October 30, 2013, claiming a yacht was lost in Loch Hourn. Munro said he had spoken to someone on VHF radio stating that they were lost in Loch Hourn and didn’t know how to get out.
Great Lakes Agencies Partner for Operation Dry Water
U.S. Coast Guard and maritime law enforcement agencies on the Great Lakes and surrounding areas will partner up Friday through Sunday for the seventh annual Operation Dry Water campaign, a nationwide, multiagency effort focusing on boater education and raising awareness that it is unsafe, as well as illegal, to operate a boat under the influence of drugs or alcohol. “Along with alcohol use, three of the other top five contributing factors in recreational boating deaths are operator inattention, improper lookout and inexperience of the operator,” said Mike Baron, the U.S.
