GOM Vessel Incident Declared Major Marine Casualty

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) revealed Thursday that an incident involving a capsized commercial lift vessel in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico has now been declared a major marine casualty.

The USCG is leading a preliminary investigation in relation to the incident and the National Transportation Safety Board will be joining in that effort, the USCG outlined. The organization confirmed Thursday that it is continuing to search for 12 missing people from the capsized vessel eight miles south of Port Fourchon.

“Coast Guard air and surface assets continued to search overnight, and the search will continue throughout the day,” the USCG said in a statement posted on its website on April 15.

“Coast Guard crews have searched for a combined 70 hours covering approximately 6,380 square miles, an area roughly the size of Hawaii,” the USCG added.

Divers were on scene Thursday to conduct an assessment and begin operations in support of the ongoing search and rescue effort, the USCG revealed. In a statement posted on its Twitter page Thursday, the USCG noted that divers knocked on the hull of the vessel without hearing a response.

#BREAKING: Divers were able to conduct operations today at the capsized vessel offshore #PortFourchon. The divers knocked on the hull of the vessel w/out hearing a response. Dive OPS secured for today & plan on resuming tomorrow. #Ready #Relevant #Responsive pic.twitter.com/J0OfJTU9uq

— USCG Heartland (@USCGHeartland) April 15, 2021

Rescue assets involved in the search so far comprise;

• The pre-commissioned Coast Guard Cutter Glen Harris crew
• The Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack crew
• The Coast Guard Cutter Moray crew
• The Coast Guard Cutter Benjamin Dailey
• The Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew
• The Coast Guard Station Grand Isle 45-foot RB-M boat crews
• The Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane crews 
• Two Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplanes crews
• Two Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater HC-130 Hercules airplane crews
• Two Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters
• Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries crews
• The Port Fourchon Harbor Patrol
• The Port Fourchon Sherriff's Department
• The Lafourche Parish Sheriff’s Office
• One commercial air medical service crew

The USCG revealed Tuesday that it and multiple “good Samaritan vessels” had rescued six people from the capsized commercial lift vessel in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The organization announced Wednesday that it had recovered one unresponsive person and that it was continuing to search for 12 missing people from the vessel.

To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com