Search & Rescue

The Coast Guard has suspended its search for a fisherman who fell overboard near Juneau.

The man was identified Thursday as 63-year-old Richard Boyce of Haines.

The fisherman was aboard the 39-foot fishing vessel Eleanor S when he fell overboard Wednesday morning while trying to remove fishing gear from the vessel’s propeller.

The boat was near Mab Island 25 miles north of Juneau when the mishap occurred.

The Coast Guard says the crewman was wearing rain gear and no flotation device when he fell overboard in relatively calm seas.

A search was conducted covering more than 60 square miles. Several fishing vessels also participated in the search.

A passenger on Mendenhall River rafting adventure had to be rescued Monday afternoon from Elephant Rock in the upper portion of the river.

Capital City Fire and Rescue Division Chief Brian Long said the woman rolled out of the raft when it made contact with the rock. But the woman was stranded when raft kept going downstream.

Long says they sent a boat up to the rock and picked up the adult woman who was reported was healthy and dry. She was reunited with her family so they could return to their cruise ship.

Long says fourteen personnel turned out for the call with the jet boat, a smaller boat, command vehicle, engines and ambulances part of the overall response.

North Pacific medivac

The Coast Guard trying to medivac a crewman who was hurt on a freighter a few days ago.

The 37-year old Philippine national apparently fell about 10-feet onto steel grating and hurt his head and back while on board the 900-foot bulk carrier Santa Rufina. The vesse was heading from Korea to Panama in the North Pacific.

Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Janelle Webster says an H-65 helicopter stationed in Cold Bay will try to hoist the crewman aboard as the freighter maneuvers closer to Dutch Harbor early Tuesday. The crewman will then be taken to a local clinic for evaluation and potential treatment.

Copper River rescue

Six people were rescued Monday from the Copper River delta as a rescue boat itself ran into trouble.

Webster says a hovercraft went up the river to pick up five stranded kayakers. But — on the way back down — one of the props or fans malfunctioned and the craft was in danger of becoming swamped. It’s unclear if the malfunctioning prop or fan provided the air cushion or propulsion for the vehicle.

An H-60 helicopter hoisted up the kayakers and hovercraft’s operator two at a time and dropped them off in a nearby clearing where they could be picked up by a vehicle.

No injuries were initially reported.

The hovercraft, left about four miles up the river, is expected to be eventually retrieved by its operator.

Five people are reported safe after their fishing vessel began taking on water over the weekend.

A Coast Guard H-60 helicopter hoisted the crewman from a skiff on Sunday after the 56-foot vessel Scandia began taking on water in Shelikof Strait.

A C-130 aircraft was also launched to assist in the operation.

Chief Petty Officer Jeffery Roberto of the Coast Guard’s Command Center in Juneau says the five people were taken back to Kodiak with no injuries reported. They had donned survival suits before abandoning ship.

A good samaritian vessel took the Scandia in tow and anchored it up near Uyak Bay. The five crewmembers eventually made their way back to Scandia. But they could not control the flooding and it sank in 600 feet of water.

It’s still unclear how or why the vessel was taking on water.

A celebration of life service is planned for Wednesday for University of Alaska professor Chuck Craig, who has been missing since Thursday, when his 16-foot skiff was found unoccupied.

Glen Charles Craig, 65, better known as Chuck Craig, went out in his 16-foot skiff on Thursday, May 17. It was found unoccupied Thursday afternoon with only his driver’s license on board.

Craig is presumed missing at sea.

The skiff has been returned to Craig’s family.

The public is invited to the service Wednesday May 23 at 1p.m.

The motor was still running when the boat was found Thursday afternoon in Favorite Channel north of Tee Harbor.

The Coast Guard searched with a 25-foot boat and an H-60 helicopter for over five hours before suspending the search Thursday evening. At least one private vessel assisted in the search.

Juneau Police Lieutenant Dave Campbell says Craig’s driver’s license was found in the skiff, but police do not suspect foul play.

Campbell says Craig worked as an instructor for the University of Alaska-Southeast’s diesel marine program.

Craig is a tenured associate professor and head of the diesel technology program, according to a short biography published on the UAS website He worked in the diesel engine field for about 50 years.

“(Craig) grew up here in Juneau living on a vessel that had twin Detroit Diesel engines. He has spent the majority of his working life in the diesel machine & diesel marine field. Chuck worked for 15 years at N C Machinery Company before he joined UAS in the diesel program in 1995.”

The biography also notes that in 2000 “Chuck was selected as the Professor of the Year for Alaska by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for Advancement and Support of Education.”

 

The Coast Guard Thursday called off a search for a person possibly missing from a skiff north of Juneau.

The 16-foot boat was spotted with its engine running a little after 1:30 pm in Favorite Channel north of Tee Harbor.

A Coast Guard 25-foot boat from Station Juneau, an H-60 helicopter from Sitka, and a nearby Good Samaritan vessel searched yesterday afternoon. Nothing was found before the search was suspended just before 7 o’clock Thursday night.

Conditions at the time were reported as two-foot seas, no wind, 58-degree air temperature, and 10-mile visibility.

The Coast Guard says they handed the boat over to the Juneau Police Department. Officers were also expected to the notify relatives before releasing the identity of the missing person or persons.

A crewman is dead after a falling on-board a processing vessel on Thursday morning.

The 44-year old man, whose identity was not disclosed because his relatives had not been notified yet, apparently fell while working on board the 310-foot vessel Gordon Jensen.

The ship was located near Togiak. A herring fishery is currently underway there.

The seriously-injured man was found unconscious and his crewmates attempted CPR. They called the Coast Guard for help at about four o’clock on Thursday morning, but Petty Officer Mark Leuchte says it would be about two hours before an H-60 helicopter from Kodiak could arrive on scene. Leuchte says the Gordon Jensen’s crew told them that the injured man would probably not last that long. A flight surgeon stayed in contact with the vessel, but the injured crewman died shortly afterward.

The processor has a helicopter on-board that apparently cannot fly at night. The body will likely be transferred to Dillingham. The Coast Guard says Alaska State Troopers would be notified of the incident.