Search and rescue
British Maritime and Coastguard Agency Sea of Change Project Reaches Completion
MARITIME AND COASTGUARD AGENCY News Release (077/07) issued by The Government News Network on 19 March 2007 -- On Thursday 22 March, at Greenock Fire Station Strathclyde, Peter Dymond, Chief Coastguard, will officially close the Sea of Change Project. The Sea of Change Project was officially launched in 2003 by the then Secretary of State, Department for Transport, Alistair Darling. The Project was set up and funded by the MCA (Maritime and Coastguard Agency) in a partnership with the Chief Fire Officers' Association to establish a Maritime Incident Response Group (MIRG) which would, for the first time in the UK, provide specialised fire and rescue teams for dealing with firefighting, chemical hazards and industrial accident incidents at sea.
The event has been organized in partnership with Strathclyde Fire and Rescue who are celebrating formally declaring as a resource to the MCA.
The new MIRG is a powerful addition to the United Kingdom's integrated search and rescue response capability. It will also be developed to have the capacity to react by air to incidents anywhere in the country, not just at sea.
Summary of Free Spirit Search
Summary of Free Spirit Search
BOSTON (June 18, 2006) - The U.S. Coast Guard suspended the search about 1:45 p.m. today for the 41-foot sailing vessel Free Spirit, with four people on board, which was reported to be in distress June 15 approximately 200 nautical miles south of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 290 nautical miles east of Chatham, Mass.
The Coast Guard has been working closely with the Canadian Coast Guard and Navy, as well as the U.S. Navy. Assisting in the search were:
* Coast Guard Cutter Spencer, homeported in Boston
* HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.
* HU-25 Falcon jet from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.
* C-130 Hercules fixed-wing airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, NC
* Canadian Navy vessel HMCS Halifax
* Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Earl Grey
* Canadian Navy C-130 fixed-wing airplane from Greenwood, Nova Scotia
* Canadian Navy P-3 fixed-wing airplane from Greenwood, Nova Scotia
* U.S. Navy P-3 fixed wing airplane from Naval Air Station Brunswick, Maine
