U.S. COAST GUARD

U.S. Coast Guard Rescue teams from across the state responded to five calls for help over the weekend. Teams operated rescues for fishing vessels, a cruise ship and a stranding.

A crew member on an American Seafoods factory trawler died at sea last week, likely from an ammonia leak on board.

Several U.S. Navy warships were dispatched to the Aleutian Islands last week, after 11 Chinese and Russian military vessels were found operating in the region. The exact location of the foreign ships was not disclosed.

The U.S. Coast Guard medevaced a man from a factory trawler near Unalaska Tuesday.A Kodiak helicopter aircrew hoisted the mariner from the 310-foot fishing vessel Northern Eagle early in the morning on Jan. 24, according to a statement from the Coast Guard. He was then transported to the care of LifeMed personnel in Cold Bay.

The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball calls Honolulu home, but recently it’s seen a lot of action in the Aleutians. Just last month while on a routine patrol, the vessel encountered a group of Russian and Chinese warships traveling together through the Bering Sea. The Kimball’s commander, Capt. Thomas D’Arcy, recalled the encounter during a port call in Unalaska last weekend.D’Arcy didn’t comment on the strategic implications of the foreign warships the Kimball encountered last month. But he said the cutter is staged for just about anything and will continue monitoring the area for foreign military activity.

A Coast Guard crew encountered a Chinese guided missile cruiser in the Bering Sea last week. The Coast Guard Cutter Kimball was on a routine patrol on Sept. 19, when the vessel encountered the Renhai CG 101 about 75 miles north of Kiska Island, in the Western Aleutians, according to a Coast Guard statement Monday morning. The statement said the Coast Guard crew identified two more Chinese naval vessels and four Russian naval vessels, including a Russian Federation Navy destroyer.

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.

Four people were on board F/V Pacific Sounder when she got stuck on the western shore of Unimak Island — between Unalaska and the Alaska Peninsula — on the morning of June 17. The Pacific Sounder hailed a MAYDAY call at 10:43 Friday morning but the crew waited three hours before they were rescued. Eventually, the Good Samaritan boat, the Polar Sea, arrived and found the crew unharmed.

The Enterprise, a factory trawler, ran aground in Unalaska Saturday evening. The 124-foot fishing vessel ran up against the runway at Tom Madsen Airport at approximately 8 p.m. Ports Director Peggy McLaughlin said the matter had been passed to the U.S. Coast Guard. Representatives from the Coast Guard could not be immediately reached for comment on Saturday night.

Five people were medevaced out of Unalaska Sunday on a Coast Guard C130. “In truth, it wasn't that unique of a situation, except the weather compounded what we deal with on a daily basis,” said Jennifer Heller, interim director of operations and a certified nurse midwife at the island’s Iliuliuk Family and Health Services clinic.