The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a crew member from a large container ship Friday, at a rendezvous point near Dutch Harbor.
The 48-year-old man was on board the YM Uniformity, a 1,093-foot container ship from Taiwan. The ship was more than a thousand nautical miles southwest of Dutch Harbor when the crew called the Coast Guard to report the crewmember was experiencing chest pain.
The Coast Guard directed the ship to travel to a meeting point about 60 miles south of Unalaska. It took the vessel about two days to reach the coordinates.
When the ship arrived, a Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the patient and transported him to Cold Bay, where he was met by a LifeMed Alaska air ambulance.
“Long range medevac cases are always unique situations that involve coordinating our aircrews to the nearest launching point,” said Lt. j.g. Calean Juckniess 17th District command duty officer. “The planning between the command center, the aircrew, and the vessel led to the success of the response.”