Everyone wants a culture of safety. Vessel owners want it, maritime workers want it, and their friends and families want it. But what is it and what steps must an organization or vessel owner take to establish it? It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It…
There are times when a maritime worker must access high areas on a vessel or travel from one deck to another. In these instances, it makes sense that ladders and steps would be employed. If working at sea weren’t already hazardous enough, enter the dangers of ladders, steps, and gangways.…
It has been 10 years since the tragic 2008 sinking of the 190-foot fishing vessel Alaska Ranger, which claimed the lives of five of the 47 crewmen aboard. During a 3-year investigation, conflicting findings regarding the cause of the accident were reported. The U.S. Coast Guard originally believed the sinking…
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for a 22-year-old crewman who was reported missing and presumed overboard, after an extensive search. The Motor Vessel Challenge Prelude was about 110 miles south of Sand Point, Alaska when the call to command center watchstanders came in. At 2:20p.m. on Sunday,…
The 2018 Pacific halibut season is set to begin at noon on Saturday, March 24nd, but the U.S. and Canada have failed to reach consensus on limits for the first time since 1990. Both countries have endorsed a quota cut. The IPHC (The International Pacific Halibut Commission) is an intergovernmental…
As the world’s demand for seafood continues to rise, new methods for tracking global commercial fishing activities are imperative. In a groundbreaking study published in the journal Science, some extraordinary data are showing how fishing vessels are covering the world’s oceans, and which countries are bringing in the biggest catches.…
The Washington State Senate has voted 31-16 to ban all new Atlantic salmon farming in the state and phase out net pen farming by 2025. The phasing out plan will happen gradually as existing aquatic leases expire. This is an update to a post dated August 29, 2017, when we…
The U.S. Coast Guard recently received an alarming call; a 44-year-old male appeared to be suffering a stroke while working on the fishing vessel GOLDEN ALASKA, which was located approximately 60 miles northeast of Cold Bay. Time is of the essence when treating a stroke, but what happens when the…
Once again, the benefits of having Coast Guard assets forward deployed were realized when a crewmember aboard the F/V Island Enterprise was found unconscious in the freezer compartment of the vessel last week. Watchstanders at the 17th Coast Guard District command center were contacted on February 16th at approximately 5:30…
The U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River was contacted on Monday morning after a worker was injured while installing a recirculation system aboard the bulk carrier Ergina Luck. The worker fell into the bilge, and it was reported that both his legs and back were injured in the fall and that…