OCEAN CITY — The U. S. Coast Guard rescued the crewmember of a rather famous commercial fishing vessel around 62 miles off the coast of Ocean City on Tuesday involving a joint effort from stations up and down the east coast.
Around 8 a.m. on Tuesday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound in New Haven, Conn. received a call from the 96-foot commercial fishing vessel “Hannah Boden,” reporting a 23-year-old male aboard had lacerated his hand while fishing and needed immediate medical attention. The “Hannah Boden” was the sister ship of the ill-fated “Andrea Gail,” which went down in the famed Halloween storm in 1991. The “Andrea Gail” and the “Hannah Boden,” then captained by the notable east coast commercial fishing captain and best-selling author Linda Greenlaw, were featured prominently in Sebastian Junger’s book “The Perfect Storm” and later a popular film of the same name.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Station Atlantic City arrived on the scene and airlifted the injured seaman from the “Hannah Boden” and transported him via helicopter to the Ocean City Municipal Airport. Local EMS personnel evaluated the injured fisherman at the Ocean City airport and recommended a Maryland State Police helicopter crew transport the victim to Union Memorial Hospital in Baltimore, which has a renowned hand injury unit.
“This case was a great example of the coordinated effort of several major commands,” said Lieutenant Erika Elfguinn, command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Baltimore’s command center. “The initial call went to Sector Long Island Sound and was then relayed through the 5th District Command Center to us in Baltimore. We worked with the aircrew from Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay, who did a great job of arriving on the scene and medevacing the injured man to provide him medical attention as quickly as possible.”
Tuesday’s incident continued a busy week for the Coast Guard rescuing injured seaman in the mid-Atlantic region. Last Thursday, the Coast Guard medevaced a man requiring medical assistance from a commercial fishing vessel about 35 miles off the coast of Fenwick Island.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay received a call via VHF marine radio from the 92-foot commercial fishing vessel “Alaska” indicating a crewmember had suffered a puncture wound and was in immediate need of medical attention. The Coast Guard cutter “Mako” arrived on the scene and sent a crewmember aboard the “Alaska” to assist in hoisting the victim to an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter. A rescue swimmer was lowered to the “Alaska” with a litter and the victim was hoisted and flown to a medical center in Atlantic City.
To see a video of this latest rescue, visit www.facebook.com/thedispatchoc