Marine Institute plays crucial role in at-sea rescue

Marine Institute personnel acted quickly to rescue five people from the ocean on Friday, July 30. The people were pulled from the sea after their pleasure craft began taking on water just outside the Narrows of St. John's Harbour

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

The crew of the MV Anne S. Pierce, the Marine Institute’s research and training vessel, received a request from the Canadian Coast Guard’s Search and Rescue authority to assist a vessel in distress after a Sea-Doo pleasure craft carrying five people began taking on water just outside the Narrows of St. John’s Harbour in the early afternoon.

“We were in the area conducting a sea exercise for the Basic Survival Training - Recurrent course. We were just finishing up the flare exercise while getting ready to do the water work when we got the call that five people were swamped in a Sea-Doo boat,” said John Parrell, a technical assistant at MI’s Offshore Safety and Survival Centre (OSSC).

The Anne Pierce was being used in Dead Man’s Cove by the Offshore Safety and Survival Centre for basic survival training sea exercises, which includes students divining into the ocean in full survival suits, and quickly identified the location of the distress call. The Anne Pierce then directed the OSSC’s fast rescue craft (FRC) to the scene, where the swamped Sea-Doo craft and five occupants were located.

“When we arrived on location there were five people (two men, one woman, two teenagers) standing in their boat, up to their waists in cold water. They were scared but not capsized,” said Parrell. “We then approached and took them aboard the FRC and transferred them to the Anne Pierce where they could warm up and be brought back to St. John’s Harbour.”

None of the five passengers suffered serious injury as a result of the incident. Once they were safely out of the water and transferred to the harbor, OSSC personnel towed the swamped Seadog to the small boat basin where the owners could retrieve the craft. The FRC crew members who took part in the rescue included Parrell; Paul Stamp, technical assistant; and Jeff Fagan, safety swimmer.

“All personnel involved are to be commended,” said Robert Escott, assistant director, OSSC. “Congratulations on a job well done.”