HONOLULU -- Coast Guard personnel from District 14, Base Support Unit Honolulu, Sector Honolulu, Maritime Safety and Security Team (91107), and Air Station Barbers Point participated in the Partnership in Education Program at the Prince Jonah Kuhio Elementary School’s holiday party, Dec. 14, 2011. Coast Guard members delivered approximately 350 gifts to the elementary school students in kindergarten through fifth grade.

Coast Guard members in Honolulu have supported the Prince Jonah Kuhio Elementary School by reading to the children, passing out school supplies and holiday gifts for the past three years. U.S. Coast Guard video by Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson.

For photos from this event, click thumbnails below:

For video from this event, click thumbnail below:

For hi-resolution video click the thumbnail above.

HONOLULU -- An HC-130 Hercules airplane aircrew from Air Station Barbers Point drops supplies to seven mariners who are stranded on a deserted Pacific island in the Republic of the Marshall Islands Nov. 6, 2011. Seven males between the ages of 19 and 30 left the southwestern part of Maloelap Atoll en route north to Kaven Island, Nov. 3, 2011. The Royal Australian Navy liaison to the Republic of the Marshall Islands contacted Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders and reported the vessel as 24 hours overdue.

JRCC personnel worked closely with Royal Australian Navy liaison in developing joint search patterns that would be used by assets of both governments. On the second day the Hercules aircrew spotted the missing men on the beach of a small island waving palm fronds near a blue vessel matching the description of the overdue 20-foot skiff.

The Republic of the Marshall Islands 107-foot patrol boat Lomor was diverted and picked up the survivors. The survivors were taken back to their home atolls via the Royal Australian Navy motor vessel Miss Telitha.

Editor’s note: Click the above thumbnails for high resolution images and video. 

HONOLULU – A Coast Guard aircrew piloting an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Air Station Sacramento assisted the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in transporting a rare monk seal back to Hawaii, Tuesday.

The seal, named Hō'ailona, also known as KP2, was abandoned early in life and was taken into the care of NOAA Fisheries. Once he was deemed capable of living on his own, he was released into the wild. However, over the course of several months, his vision became impaired. He also tended to interact heavily with humans, which posed a possible risk to public safety.

Prior to his return to Hawaii, Hō'ailona was under the care of teams of veterinarians and mammal scientists at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Hō'ailona was brought back to Hawaii by a Coast Guard aircrew from Sacramento, California. He was then taken to his new home at the Waikiki Aquarium.

To read about Hō'ailona’s history, visit: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/health/kp2.htm

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230.

Editor's note: Click on the thumbnails above for high resolution photos and video.

HONOLULU – Coast Guardsmen from Station Kaua’i, members of Kaua’i Fire Department, Ocean Safety and the Civil Air Patrol conducted a search and rescue exercise off the coast of Kapa’a Beach Park, Kaua’i, Thursday.

The exercise tested the multi-agency response to a scenario involving a search and rescue mission to a small aircraft crash in the ocean. Two mannequins wearing life jackets and self-locating datum marker buoys were deployed from a Coast Guard helicopter. The purpose of the exercise was to improve coordination, communications and further strengthen working relations between the agencies.

Coast Guard assets included a 47-foot Motor Life Boat from Station Kaua’i, the 110-foot Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island from Honolulu and an aircrew piloting an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point.

Kaua’i Fire Deptartment crewmembers provided a helicopter, a response boat and operated a mobile command center on land.

Ocean safety provided members aboard jet skis and the Civil Air Patrol contributed an airplane for use during the exercise.

“This exercise was a great opportunity for us to bring all of our assets and personnel together to examine our response skills,” said Senior Chief Buddy Gilbert, office in charge for Station Kaua’i. “This allows us to identify any faults and improve them now so they don’t affect us during an actual emergency.”

The search and rescue exercise began at approximately 10:30 a.m. and lasted until approximately 1:30 p.m.

“The county of Kaua'i, along with the fire department, is so fortunate to be able to partner with Coast Guard in this joint training SAREX,” said John Blalock, Kaua’i Fire Department deputy fire chief. “Along with meeting exercise objectives, this training afforded us the opportunity to continue to build relationships with the Coast Guard and other public safety partners. I believe that this relationship is of upmost importance, because when the incident is in real life we can count on each other to ‘get my back’.”

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230. 

Editor's note: click on image above for video.

U.S. Coast Guard story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson

HONOLULU – Coast Guard aircrews rescued a pilot who was forced to ditch his Cessna 310 aircraft approximately 13 miles northeast of the Big Island, Hawaii Friday.

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane from Air Station Barbers Point assisted the pilot during the process of ditching his aircraft. The Hercules aircrew maintained communications with the pilot during the ditching process and vectored a Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and the Coast Guard Cutter Kiska to the scene.

The pilot ditched his airplane at approximately 5:23 p.m. and climbed out of the cockpit onto the wing.

The Dolphin aircrew deployed a rescue swimmer to pick up the pilot. The rescue swimmer hoisted the pilot into the Dolphin and the aircrew transported him to Hilo Medical Center. He was reported to be coherent with no significant injuries.

The Federal Aviation Administration contacted Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu at 12:30 p.m. to inform the Coast Guard that a 65-year-old male, piloting the Cessna from Monterey, Calif., to Hilo, Hawaii was 500 miles away from land and was running low on fuel. The pilot estimated he would run out of fuel 100 miles east of Hilo.

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230.

Editors note: For high resolution photos and video click the images above.

HONOLULU — Several Oahu-based Coast Guard units hosted an educational exposition for local high school students at the Coast Guard Base Support Unit, Honolulu, Friday.

The Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Exposition is a collaborative initiative to promote core technological fields and develop future innovators. The program is designed to allow high school students the opportunity to see how the Coast Guard applies science, technology, engineering and math in its everyday uses.

More than 100 high school students from Oahu learned about Coast Guard tools of the trade and viewed a search and rescue demonstration by an Air Station Barbers Point MH-65 Dolphiin helicopter air crew.

For more information about this release contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230. 

Editor's note: Click on the images above for high resolution versions.

HONOLULU – Coast Guardsmen from Station Maui assisted in the rescue of 25 passengers aboard a grounded tour boat near La Perouse Bay, Maui, Sunday. 

Watchstanders in the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received a signal from an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon registered to the 30-foot tour boat Kanaloa at 8:26 a.m. The vessel’s information was passed to watchstanders at Sector Honolulu, who contacted the Kanaloa crew over VHF channel 16.

Station Maui crewmembers launched a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium at 8:52 a.m. and arrived on the scene at 9:29 a.m.

The crew aboard the motor vessel Kanaloa backed into a cave along the waterfront in the bay and were pushed up against the rock walls by the waves, causing damage to the front right side of the boat and one of the engines on the rear. The 30-foot sister ship, Pineapple Express, was also on scene to render assistance and escort the Kanaloa. None of the passengers reported any injuries and all of them had lifejackets on. No pollution was reported. The company owner also arrived on scene in his own 30-foot fishing vessel to render assistance.

After the crew of the Kanaloa navigated out of the cave, five passengers were transferred to the Pineapple Express at 9:45 a.m. Two crewmembers went aboard the fishing vessel and the remaining 18 passengers were transferred to the RBM at 9:49 a.m. The 30-foot fishing vessel safely towed the Kanaloa back to Kihei Boat Ramp.

All passengers disembarked the RBM at approximately 12:08 p.m. The Kanaloa was moored at the pier at approximately 12:25 p.m.

“This is a good example of why EPIRBs are essential to mariners,” said Andrew J. Statham, a boatswain’s mate from Station Maui. “Having this aboard significantly decreased the Coast Guard’s response time and allowed us to get to them and render assistance quickly.”

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at 808-535-3230.

To see a video of children rescued from the grounded vessel, click the following link:
http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1313785

Editors Note: High resolution photos can be downloaded by clicking on the images above.
A link to video is below.

HONOLULU -- Crewmembers aboard Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island transferred four Oregon-based recreational boaters and their pet cat from the cargo ship OOCL Guangzhou, approximately 12 miles south of Oahu, Sunday after their 30-foot sailing vessel experienced a rudder malfunction while journeying from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico to Oregon.

The crew of the Guangzhou, based out of Hong Kong, rescued the boaters approximately 665 miles southwest of San Diego, Friday.

The Guangzhou is a partnering Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue Program ship and its crew responded to the sailing vessel's distress call and launched a small boat to render assistance. After unsuccessful efforts to repair the sailing vessel's damage, California-based Coast Guard Search and Rescue Coordinators advised the distressed boaters to abandon ship and take refuge aboard the cargo ship.

The Guangzhou diverted course from its next scheduled port of call and rendezvoused approximately 12 miles south of Oahu with a Coast Guard rescue crew to transfer the boaters to the Galveston Island. As a member of AMVER, the cargo ship is one of 19,000 vessels that voluntarily participates in search and rescue efforts worldwide. The contributions of the OOCL Guangzhou and her crew were instrumental to the rescue effort.

"Every 33 hours an AMVER ship is saving a life somewhere. This case reinforces that and underscores the way we can leverage our partnership with the commercial shipping community to save lives at sea," said Benjamin Strong, director AMVER Maritime Relations for the United States Coast Guard.

Video of the transfer and an interview by Douglas Ray Merrell can be found at the following link: http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1306269.

For more information about this case contact Lt. Leigh Cotterell at 808-292-3692.

For more information about AMVER visit www.amver.com.

Click the photos above for high resolution versions.

HONOLULU – Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf arrived at Coast Guard Base Sand Island at approximately 8 a.m., Tuesday.

The 418-foot Legend-class National Security Cutter is the first of eight NSC's planned for the Coast Guard. The Cutter Bertholf deploys with a variety of new technologies and equipment to enhance the Coast Guard’s mission effectiveness. Such innovations include two stern-launching small boats, advanced weapons systems such as a Mark 110 57-millimeter gun, a 20-millimeter Close In weapon system and a Mark 46 electro-optical/infrared sensor. The Cutter Bertholf also has two hangars that can accommodate the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and improved living spaces for the crew.

The Cutter Bertholf is part of the Coast Guard’s ongoing initiative to update and modernize its vessels and equipment throughout the fleet. Other projects include the Offshore Patrol Cutter and Fast Response Cutter programs.

Hawaii is just one of the crew’s stops during this underway period. The crew recently completed a patrol along the coast of Alaska. While en route to Hawaii, the Cutter Bertholf supported the 14th Coast Guard District by patrolling the distant areas of the Hawaiian fishing grounds.

While in port, the crew will offer tours to the public on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Members of the public can find the Cutter Bertholf moored at the pier on Coast Guard Base Sand Island.

For more information contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs team at 808-535-3230.

To see a video of the Cutter Bertholf, click the following link:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1301285

To see a virtual tour of the Bertholf, visit the website below:

http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/cgcBertholf/virtualtour/default.html

For more information about the National Security Cutter and the Coast Guard's acquisition program, visit the following websites:

http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/nsc/projectdescription.asp

http://www.uscg.mil/acquisition/nsc/features.asp

HONOLULU – Crewmembers from Station Honolulu conducted flare and survival training on Nimitz Beach, Kapolei Wednesday.

The flare training included introductions to the proper handling and usage of the Mark 79 Mod 0 illumination signal kit and the Mark 124 MOD 0 marine Smoke and Illumination Signal. The Mk 79 signal kit contains the flare launching device, called a pencil launcher, and seven flares. When fired, the red flare goes approximately 650 feet into the air. The Mk 124 is a two-sided signaling device that has both a day end and a night end. The day end disperses thick neon orange smoke for approximately 20 seconds and the night end disperses a blinding red flare for the same amount of time. Both ends can be seen from a distance of three to five miles.

“This training is important to help keep our crewmember’s knowledge current on the uses, the different conditions they’re used in and how to recognize their colors, trajectories and even how to recognize both the audible and visual signs of distress,” said Chief Petty Officer Armena McNair, boatswain’s mate at Station Honolulu.

The survival training the crewmembers conducted involved swimming in the water and practicing climbing in and out of an inflatable, six-man Zodiac survival life raft.

“The raft training benefits the crew by giving them experience in how to deploy and use the raft both from the rescuer’s and survivor’s points of view,” McNair said.

Coast Guardsmen throughout the country constantly train to improve efficiency, maintain qualifications and to teach new members who may be involved in a rescue.

For more information contact the Coast Guard public affairs team at 808-535-3230.

To see pictures of the training, click the following links:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1293131

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1291723

To see a video about the training, click the following link:

http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1291718