Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Coast Guard medevacs injured mariner from the fish-processing vessel Northern Victor near Dutch Harbor, Alaska

Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew arrives at Spruce Cape near Kodiak, Alaska 

July 28th, 2015

JUNEAU, Alaska — 

A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew medevaced an injured mariner from a fish-processing vessel in Beaver Inlet, near Dutch Harbor, Tuesday.

The Dolphin helicopter crew launched from Cold Bay, where they were staged overnight for a different case, and safely hoisted the injured man for transport to emergency medical services in Dutch Harbor.

The crew of the 360-foot fish-processing vessel Northern Victor, notified the Coast Guard 17th District command center of the injured crewmember, reportedly suffering from a swollen leg, Tuesday morning.

After transporting the injured man to Dutch Harbor, commercial services arranged a flight out of Dutch Harbor to a higher level of medical care.

“We strategically place our deployed aircrews to leverage their capabilities during time-sensitive missions,” said Adam De Rocher, a civilian senior search and rescue controller at the 17th District command center. “The extreme distances between airports and medical facilities make our air assets particularly useful during emergency medical situations.

Weather on scene was reported as light wind and calm seas.



NORTHERN VICTOR

Today, the NORTHERN VICTOR is the largest processing vessel owned by Icicle Seafood, Inc at 8902 gross tons. The vessel was originally built in 1945 for the U.S. war effort and was subsequently converted into an oil well drilling ship. 

Eastern converted it into a fish processing vessel in 1990. Since July 1990, the NORTHERN VICTOR has operated in Alaska as the second largest processing vessel in the United States fishing industry. 

With quarters for 222 crew members, the vessel  processes Alaskan Pollock out of her primary operating base in the Aleutians Islands, near Dutch Harbor.