MCPOCG sends safety message
December 23rd, 2009 | Blogs Coast Guard Mishaps | Posted by Susan Schept
A 33-foot patrol boat similar to the one involved in a fatal accident over the weekend.//Photo by PA3 Henry G. Dunphy/Coast Guard
The Coast Guard is having a difficult December with two boating accidents — the latest on Sunday when a Coast Guard boat struck a recreational boat in San Diego and killed an 8-year-old boy. On Dec. 5, a Coast Guard boat collided with a commercial catamaran in Charleston Harbor, S.C., and two people were injured. Both incidents took place during or after Christmas parades on the water.
While the NTSB investigates the causes to both accidents, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Skip Bowen offered words of caution in his blog on Monday:
In the meantime I’m asking all of you to speak with your people regarding operational safety. This is a busy time of the year. In some areas the winter weather can create extremely dangerous conditions. ..We must operate safely regardless of the environment we find ourselves in.