Significant Maritime Incidents

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Date: 24/05/2023

Wednesday 24th May, 1:10am - RCC Bermuda receives a call from New York Air Traffic Control reporting that Jet Blue Airbus 321 is diverting to Bermuda with a passenger with an Emergency Medical condition . The aircraft with 194 persons on board is enroute from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Boston. The Duty officer at RCC Bermuda alerts the necessary personnel, including the Airport Duty Officer, COMOPS and Bermuda Fire and Dispatch. The aircraft lands at Bermuda International Airport at 01:35am, where an awaiting ambulance takes the sick 61 year old female to the hospital.


Date: 24/05/2023

Wednesday 24th May, 10:56 am – RCC Bermuda received an SSAS security alert from the Bermuda registered LNG tanker ONDO, the alert position was off west Africa in the Gulf of Guinea. The shipping companies security officer investigated and confirmed the equipment had been activated accidentally


Date: 24/05/2023

Wednesday 24th May, 6:14 pm - RCC Bermuda Received an EPIRB alert from the Bermuda registerd 24 ft Pleasure Craft, BEERACUDA, the registration details were up-to-date and the owner was able to advise the boat was being bailed out due to heavy rain. On checking the beacon it was confirmed to be active, the owner was able to disable the beacon and report the alert was false.


Date: 23/05/2023

Tuesday 23rd May, 12:54 pm – RCC Bermuda received an alert from a Bermuda programmed 406 MHz EPIRB the alert position was shown to be a few miles Northeast of the Sea Buoy and the beacon was registered to the local Fishing Vessel NO PROBLEM. The owners of NO PROBLEM were able to advise that the active beacon was an old EPIRB which has been replaced and is no longer onboard. RCC Bermuda made urgency broadcasts requesting vessels check Bermuda programmed EPIRBS for activation, no response received. Records at RCC Bermuda show the active beacon had also been activated in September 2020 and the case was never resolved. The homing signal from the active EPIRB appeared to be to the Southeast of Fort George. RCC Bermuda staff went mobile with equipment to trace the homing signal, the beacon was eventually found at the airport dump and deactivated by removing the battery. This case is a good example of the potential confusion which can be caused by incorrectly disposing of vessels life saving equipment.


Date: 23/05/2023

Tuesday 23rd May, 6:35 am – Bermuda Radio received a call from a vessel in Dolly’s Bay St David’s advising that a sailing vessel approximately 30 ft in length has dragged her mooring and is currently drifting in St David’s Narrows. As the tide was flooding the yacht was unlikely to drift out to sea immediately, the Bermuda coast Guard and a local marine contractor were unable to assist at the time, fortunately a local good Samaritan boater was able to tow the boat to the Navy Buoy in St Georges harbour while Bermuda Radio attempt to find and inform the vessel owner.


Date: 23/05/2023

Tuesday 23rd May, 6:15pm – BMOC receives call from P/C PRINCESS, disabled off Nine beaches, with 3 POB. Indicating they had engine trouble, they had deployed their anchor but it was not holding. Bermuda Radio issues PAN PAN broadcasts for any vessels in the vicinity able to assist in the towage of the vessel. Bermuda Coastguard were contacted and dispatched R1 to assist with a tow. Subsequently Coastguard vessel R1 arrived onscene & was able to tow P/C Princess to Mangrove Bay public dock


Date: 21/05/2023

Sunday 21st May, 8:45 am – Bermuda Radio was called by a group of golfers at Mid Ocean Golf Course reporting a life buoy with flashing light approximately 20 meters offshore, the Bermuda Coast Guard attended but were unable to recover the equipment as it was now on a rocky shoreline. No further information was received, and it is unclear where the lifesaving equipment originated from.


Date: 19/05/2023

Friday 19th of May, 6:42 pm - Bermuda Radio received a phone call from RCC Norfolk informing of a Personal Locator Beacon that had been activated approximately 180 nautical miles from Bermuda on board sailing vessel Alma. While on the phone with RCC Norfolk they were notified that the beacon was activated by mistake and that this was a false alert. No further action required from RCC Bermuda.


Date: 15/05/2023

Monday 15th May, 7:10 pm – RCC Bermuda received a 406 MHz ELT alert from an aircraft which left the Bermuda registry in 2012, it was not possible to contact the aircraft operator, the alert position was found to be overland in Mexico. The case was followed up with the Bermuda Civil Aviation Authority to try and get the operator to reprogram or remove the incorrectly programmed beacon.


Date: 14/05/2023

Sunday 14th May, 4:41 pm – Bermuda Radio receives a telephone call from onboard a disabled 21 ft boat which is drifting towards Hawkins Island in Hamilton Harbour. The boat has 2 people onboard and has lost propulsion, fortunately Bermuda Coast Guard were on patrol within Hamilton Harbour and the disabled boat was towed to Barr’s Bay Park.


Date: 11/05/2023

Saturday 6th May, 11:20 am - Bermuda Radio received a satellite telephone call from the German registered 32 ft sloop MARU which had departed Bermuda on the 1st May with 2 People onboard, the yacht was on passage to the Azores in a position 490 Miles to the West of Bermuda when she became dismasted in a storm. The yacht was returning to Bermuda using the engine alone, unfortunately they were only able to make around 3 Knots and did not have sufficient fuel onboard to make it back from Bermuda. The MARU was put on a communications schedule to monitor progress and at 12:30 pm on Sunday 7th May with the assistance of the U.S Coast Guard at RCC Norfolk the Tanker AMAZON VIRTUE was diverted to the MARU to transfer 200 liters of diesel so she could continue onto Bermuda. The dismasted yacht continued her slow progress back to Bermuda eventually arriving back in St Georges harbour at 2:00 pm on Thursday 11th May.


Date: 11/05/2023

Thursday 11th May, 12:00 pm - Email received from Meyer ship agents advising that the CELEBRITY SUMMIT will bring her ETA forward due to the need to disembark a passenger in need of urgent medical attention. At 11:30 on Friday morning the casualty was transferred to a ambulance waiting on the berth in dockyard.


Date: 11/05/2023

Thursday 11th May, 7:40pm - Charter Fishing Vessel JOLLY RODGER called to reported they were aground of Westgate in Dockyard with 5 people onboard. The captain was assisted by friends who managed to tow Jolly Rodger free and assist them in returning to her berth in Dockyard.


Date: 08/05/2023

Monday 8th May 5:12pm – 911 call received from a disabled rental boat located in Paradise Lakes in the islands of the Great Sound. A Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard on patrol in the area was diverted to assist, towing the rental vessel back to the Somerset Bridge Watersports rental facility.


Date: 08/05/2023

Monday 8th May 3:40pm – Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre received a report from Blue Hole Water Sports at the Grotto Bay Hotel reporting a vessel disabled in Castle Harbour near Nonsuch Island. Upon further visual investigation of that area of Castle Harbour by BMOC, it was observed that the vessel in question was under tow by a good Samaritan vessel and that no further immediate action was required.


Date: 07/05/2023

Sunday 7th May 9:00pm – Bermuda Radio received an undesignated medium frequency Digital Selective Call Distress alert on frequency 2,187.5 kHz relaying a reported distress message from the Azorean registered fishing trawler SAO GONCALINHO. Further investigation using satellite AIS sources determined the vessel to be in a port south of Porto in Portugal and in subsequent communication with the Marine Rescue Coordination Centre in Lisbon, Portugal the distress alert was confirmed to be false and no further action was required.


Date: 02/05/2023

Tuesday 02 May 12:05pm - Call received from the private tracking and emergency monitoring company Global Rescue reporting the receipt of a satellite distress alert from the sailing vessel ALBATROSS at a position 300 miles South of Bermuda. Family ashore of the solo sailor onboard ALBATROSS report last having contact with him 2 days ago. The Global Rescue operations centre recalls RCC Bermuda some 25 minutes later advising that a cancellation message had now been received and that the vessel is confirmed fine and headed for Bermuda. A subsquent call with USCG Rescue Coordination Centre in Norfolk further confirms that the distress alert was in fact accidental and that no further action is required.


Date: 01/05/2023

Monday 1st May 8:15am – RCC Bermuda contacted by US Coast Guard RCC Norfolk advising that a sailing vessel 900 miles East of Bermuda had reported to them as having witnessed multiple distress flares being fired from an unknown vessel as well as a reported horn like audible signal being used at the same time. A USCG C-130 aircraft from CG Air Station Elizabeth City is tasked to conduct a search of the area of the suspected distress. Given the distances involved the C-130 arrives to fuel at Bermuda at approx 11:00am before departing for the search area at 12 nooon. Once on scene an extensive search is conducted without any sightings of distress. The C-130 aircraft returns direct to Elizabeth City, North Carolina at approx 4:00pm.


Date: 26/04/2023

Wednesday 26th April 2023 11:24am – RCC Bermuda receives a distress call from the local dive vessel MODERN SINBAD located at Western Blue Cut approximately 4 miles Northwest of Commissioners Point, Dockyard. The dive boat's crew report a serious medical emergency with a dive excursion participant and that the person was back onboard the vessel but unresponsive with CPR being performed and oxygen also being administered. RCC contacts a RBR-Coastguard unit Heron III in the area of Commissioners Point who diverts to the scene. The patient is transferred to Heron III along with a friend and crewman from MODERN SINBAD and they are transported at speed to Albuoy's Point in Hamilton Harbour where they are met by an ambulance and conveyed to King Edward Memorial Hospital (KEMH) however a later report from KEMH confirms that the person involved was deceased. Police and other marine authorities will be investigating the incident.