Coast Guard rescues 8 from burning ship south of Honolulu Harbor
Jul 23rd, 2016
HONOLULU — The Coast Guard rescued eight crewmembers from a burning ship two miles offshore Oahu, Thursday. Eight people are safe after a Coast Guard Station Honolulu boatcrew rescued them and a team from the Coast Guard Cutter Galveston Island fought and extinguished an engine room fire aboard the commercial fishing vessel Lady Anna two miles south of Honolulu Harbor.
“We were in the right place at the right time,” said Lt. Ryan Ball, commanding officer of Galveston Island. “This was a combined effort between the Galveston Island crew, the watchstanders at Sector Honolulu and rescue boat crews from Station Honolulu and Honolulu Fire Department. I’m happy that we were able to help and I’m proud of my crew for their quick and effective response in putting out the fire. The reason why we do training is to ensure that in an emergency situation such as this, we can perform safely and effectively.”
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center overheard a transmission on VHF channel 16 at 4:30 p.m. regarding a fire aboard the 78-foot fishing vessel Lady Anna. Watchstanders established communication with the vessel, directed the launch of a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Honolulu and diverted the nearby Galveston Island crew to assist.
Once on scene, the Galveston Island crew reported black smoke billowing from the engine room. The RB-M crew arrived on scene and safely disembarked the crew from the fishing vessel. The Galveston Island Rescue and Assist Team then boarded the Lady Anna to investigate the smoke. When approaching the engine room, the team identified flames coming from the generator and utilized a P-6 pump to successfully extinguish the fire.
International crewmembers from the Lady Anna were safely transferred by the RB-M crew to the commercial fishing vessel Sapphire III due to lack of clearance and two U.S. crewmembers were safely transferred to Pier 38. No injuries were reported.
The Lady Anna was towed in to Pier 17 by a water taxi after a marine surveyor deemed the vessel seaworthy and not in danger of taking on water or having a fire re-flash.
Coast Guard Sector Honolulu personnel will investigate the cause of the fire in the coming days and address any repairs necessary for the Lady Anna to resume normal operations. Lady Anna is homeported in Honolulu.