[FedCom] Coast Guard issues its own distress call - NorthJersey.com

[~Bill]

http://www.northjersey.com/news/130518688_Coast_Guard_issues_its_own_distres
s_call.html

In the overnight hours of a mild June morning, a caller told the Coast Guard
the crew was abandoning ship in Sandy Hook Bay because their sailboat was
taking on water.

 
STAFF PHOTOS BY TYSON TRISH 
Buy this photo 
Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Dan Blouch patrolling Sandy Hook Bay
this summer.  
Buy this photo Coast Guard rescuers from the Sandy Hook station sped to the
location. A helicopter and rescue aircraft from the federal agency deployed
from Atlantic City and Massachusetts. A state police helicopter assisted.

The end result: no boat, no sailors and an $88,000 Coast Guard price tag.

False alarms
The U.S. Coast Guard received the following number of probable
hoax/uncorrelated mayday calls: Fiscal year (Oct. 1 through Sept. 30)

For the coverage area that encompasses northern New Jersey, New York City
and the Hudson River:

2008: 35
2009: 55
2010: 49
2011: 36

For the coverage area of Sandy Hook to Cape May:

2008: 6
2009: 9
2010: 11
2011: 10

Uncorrelated maydays are radio calls the Coast Guard receives with very
little information other than "Mayday" or "Help." There is no location or
name reported and no descriptions.

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

During a U.S. Coast Guard search, it costs approximately:

$1,830 an hour to operate a 25-foot response boat

$4,492 an hour to operate a 45-foot response boat

$11,078 an hour to operate a helicopter out of Atlantic City

$12,566 an hour to operate a fixed-wing aircraft
Hoax distress calls have always been a frustrating part of the Coast Guard's
job, putting rescuers and other boaters with possible emergencies in
unnecessary danger. But it's taxpayers who must foot the bill for those
responses.

Since 2008, the agency received 211 of what it officially labels
"uncorrelated mayday" and probable hoax calls for an area that includes New
Jersey, New York City and the Hudson River. And with a few more weeks left
in the boating season, more could occur.

"It's a bad economy, everybody's hurting and this makes it worse," said
Petty Officer 1st Class Dan Blouch of Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook.

"It goes beyond frustration," added Chief Warrant Officer Brandon S. Brewer,
commanding officer, Public Affairs Detachment New York. "It's us potentially
putting our crews at risk when there's not really a distress call. And that
coupled with the fact that God forbid there is a real distress call at the
same time, our resources will be tied up searching for someone who's not
there."

In the region that encompasses northern New Jersey, New York City and the
Hudson River, the calls spiked from 35 in fiscal 2008 to 55 in 2009. But
they dropped to 36 in fiscal 2011, which ends Friday.

Calls in the coverage area of Sandy Hook to Cape May gradually climbed from
six in fiscal 2008 to 11 in 2010 with 10 reported so far in 2011, according
to agency statistics.

"There's no rhyme or reason to an increase or decrease, but it's dangerous
and it's expensive no matter what - whether it's one or 100," said Charles
Rowe, public affairs officer for Coast Guard Sector New York.

On average, several thousand dollars is expended every time rescue crews
respond to a suspected hoax call. For example, an 87-foot patrol boat
dispatched to a scene costs $3,667 per hour while a helicopter out of
Atlantic City costs $11,078 per hour.

When a distress call is received, the Coast Guard always responds with radio
communications or by launching a rescue boat or helicopter, said Commander
Stacey Mersel, chief of the command center for Coast Guard Sector New York.

"When we get the call, we never assume it's a hoax," she said. "We think
it's the real deal. The goal is to save a life."

Dispatchers are also assisted by relatively new direction-detection
technology called Rescue 21 that more accurately locates radio distress
signals and narrows a search area.

The nature of suspected hoax calls vary with some consisting of only one
word such as "Mayday" or "Emergency" before the connection is lost. Others
have been made by unsupervised children using the radio on their parents'
boats or intoxicated boaters playing practical jokes.

Rescue officials speculate that fake distress calls are sometimes made
because the offenders are seeking attention or want to feel powerful.

"It's very frustrating because you're out there searching for hours and you
don't find anybody and you don't know if it's a hoax," said Blouch during a
patrol of the Sandy Hook area this summer.

In the June 14 incident in Sandy Hook Bay, the Coast Guard spent nearly
$88,000 during the 600-square-mile search for the Courtney Lynn crew after
receiving two distress calls. The first claimed the 33-foot sailboat was
taking on water. The second, 20 minutes later, reported the four crew
members were transferring to a small gray dinghy because the vessel was
sinking.

Federal officials were told the crew didn't have a hand-held radio, flares
or a sound-producing device.

Officers later determined the transmissions were false distress calls and
the case remains under investigation. A $1,000 reward has been offered for
information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person who wasted
the rescuers' time.

The difficulty of finding the hoax caller depends on the circumstances of
the case, said Bill Hicks, special agent in charge for the Coast Guard
Investigative Service's Mid-Atlantic region.

"Sometimes it's very difficult because there are hundreds of places where
people could facilitate the call from," he said. "Sometimes it's easy
because people tell you what their name, phone number and address are."

The investigative service, which has units scattered throughout the country,
turn the cases over to the U.S. Attorney's Office for prosecution. Offenders
who make false distress calls face hefty punishment including a maximum five
to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, an $8,000 civil penalty and possible
reimbursement.


Bill Dunn           N1KUG
Cruise Ship Frequencies
http://scanmaritime.com/