JUNEAU, Alaska — The Coast Guard Cutter Healy and tanker vessel Renda crews reached the ice-free portion of the Bering Sea late Sunday afternoon.

The two vessels are now parting ways as the Healy returns to homeport in Seattle.

"Throughout this historic journey the Coast Guard has benefited from federal, state and local partnerships to deliver the critical fuel supply to the City of Nome," said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, 17th Coast Guard District commander. "Our number one priority in the last leg of this evolution is to continue ensuring the safety of both crews and the safety of the environment."

During the delivery of more than 1.3 million gallons of fuel to the city of Nome and subsequent return, the Healy escorted the Renda through about 800 miles of ice-covered Bering Sea. The delivery was necessary due to an early winter storm that prevented a scheduled fuel resupply to the city.

Click here for hourly images from the Coast Guard Cutter Healy.

Click the links below to see background information on the mission:

Multimedia Release: Healy, Renda begin departure from Nome

Multimedia Release: Update of Coast Guard Operations in Nome

Nome fuel delivery complete, vessels prepare for departure

Multimedia Release: Renda begins Nome fuel transfer

Photo Release: Coast Guard, tanker Renda prepare for fuel transfer

Video Release: Coast Guard, tanker Renda prepare for fuel transfer

Imagery Available: Coast Guard Cutter Healy, Russian tanker vessel Renda arrive in Nome

Multimedia Release: Healy, Renda seen from Nome

Renda passes port state control exam, operation moves forward

Cutter Healy, Renda to bring aid to Nome

For more information contact Petty Officer 3rd Class Grant DeVuyst 907-463-2067. 

JUNEAU, Alaska — Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews rescued 11 fishermen from two different vessels near Kodiak Wednesday morning.

Communication Station Kodiak watchstanders received a call from the 58-foot fishing vessel Kimberly, homeported in Juneau, stating the vessel had run aground in Portage Bay and needed assistance at about 8 p.m. Tuesday.

An Air Station Kodiak Jayhawk crew launched at about 9:30 p.m. and arrived on scene within an hour. Foul weather, including sustained 60-knot winds with gusts up to 90 knots and 16-foot seas, prevented the aircrew from rescuing the personnel at that time. The Jayhawk crew returned to Kodiak to refuel and a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and a second Jayhawk crew were launched to assist the crew of the Kimberly.

As aircrews were returning to assist the Kimberly, Coast Guard Sector Anchorage watchstanders received a mayday call at 6:30 a.m. from the fishing vessel Heritage south of Kodiak with seven people aboard. The second Jayhawk crew was redirected to assist the 68-foot Heritage. Air Station Kodiak launched a third helicopter crew to assist the Kimberly.

The third helicopter crew arrived at the Kimberly’s location, safely hoisted all four crewmembers and arrived at Air Station Kodiak at 10:30 a.m.

The second Jayhawk crew continued to the Heritage's location, arriving at approximately 7 a.m., and began rescuing survivors. Two crewmembers were safely hoisted from the water and the crew from the good Samaritan vessel crew, the fishing vessel Tuxedni, rescued the other five crewmembers from a life raft at 7:40 a.m.

The second Jayhawk crew returned to Kodiak with the two rescued Heritage crewmembers at 9 a.m. and the Tuxedni took the passengers to Lazy Bay. The Tuxedni crew and five survivors are expected to arrive to Kodiak at 1 p.m. Thursday.

The crews of both vessels were wearing survival suits and are reported to be in good or fair condition.

"As medical personnel for the Coast Guard, it's very important for fishing vessels to take survival gear with them when they go out," said Petty officer 2nd Class Jose Varela-Santos, a flight corpsman with Air Station Kodiak. "The waters in Alaska are dangerous and treacherous and can kill you quickly. Thankfully, these crews had gear and were able to put it on in time."

Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak personnel are investigating the cause of the Kimberly grounding and the Heritage sinking.

For more information contact Petty Officer 3rd Class Grant DeVuyst at 907-321-1866.

NOME, Alaska – Coast Guard, state, local, and industry personnel completed the safe delivery of an estimated one million gallons of diesel and 300,000 gallons of gasoline to the city of Nome Thursday at 5:30 a.m.

Two hoses were used to transfer the much needed fuel from the Russian-flagged tanker vessel Renda more than 500 yards across the Bering Sea ice to an on shore fuel tank storage facility. Fuel transfer operations began Monday and continued until all the fuel was safely delivered and the last hose was disconnected on Thursday.

"Throughout this mission our Coast Guard crews, partners, and industry personnel at sea and ashore have been dedicated to ensuring a safe transit for the Renda to Nome and completing a safe fuel delivery," said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Coast Guard District 17 commander. "I am extremely proud of the way our partners and the marine industry worked as a collaborative team along with the Coast Guard to get the needed fuel to the residents of Nome.”

The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Healy will now focus at freeing the Renda from the ice, where it was purposely frozen during the fuel transfer, and will lead the Renda back across more than 360 miles of sea ice to the open water of the Bering Sea. The tentative departure date for Healy and Renda is schedule for Friday. The Healy is the Coast Guard's only operational polar class ice breaker and was designed to break more than 4.5 feet of ice at three knots continuous and 8 feet of ice backing and ramming. Area residents are reminded that the 100 yard safety zone around the ships remains in effect until they depart.

The Healy and Renda crews departed Dutch Harbor Jan. 3 and arrived to the ice edge Jan. 6. Healy will now head back to her homeport in Seattle after completing an eight month extended deployment.

For more information contact Petty Officer 1st Class David Mosley at 907-321-4510.

NOME, Alaska — The Coast Guard and the City of Nome strongly encourage the residents of Nome to avoid traveling on the ice as the Coast Guard Cutter Healy and tanker Renda begin ice breaking operations in preparation for their outbound transit beginning early Friday.

“We want to strongly encourage residents of Nome to avoid going out onto the ice to view the vessels as they depart," said Coast Guard Lt. Nicole Auth. "The behavior of the ice as the vessels depart the city is extremely unpredictable and ice conditions could change rapidly. We strongly encourage residents to remain on shore and avoid transiting on the ice as the ships depart until the ice has time to re-freeze.”

The best place to view the operations will be from the uplands near Middle Beach along the south side of the Small Boat Harbor. It is encouraged for residents to monitor Nome radio stations and television stations for the latest information. Persons with questions should contact Lt. Nicole Auth at 907-321-2921.

NOME, Alaska — The tanker vessel Renda and the Coast Guard Cutter Healy arrived just offshore of Nome Saturday at 5:13 p.m. and preparations are commencing to ensure a safe fuel transfer.

Once all equipment for the fuel delivery is in place, the fuel transfer operations from the tanker vessel Renda will commence during daylight hours after a joint Coast Guard and State of Alaska overview. Plans are in place to actively monitor the fuel transfer to ensure the highest standards of environmental safety are met.

Crews will have to wait up to 12 hours after the arrival of the ships to ensure that all the broken and disturbed ice has refrozen allowing safe operations to take place around the ships.

"We are dedicated to completing a safe fuel delivery," said Rear Adm. Thomas Ostebo, Coast Guard District 17 commander. "The Captains and crews of the Healy and the Renda have done a tremendous job getting to Nome safely, but the work of the Coast Guard, our partners, and industry personnel is far from over as we shift to shoreside operations. The last thing that we want to happen during this operation is to have an injury or an accident."

Throughout the duration of the transfer operations, persons and vehicles will be restricted from areas 50 yards around fuel delivery hoses and 100 yards from the tanker Renda per an established Coast Guard safety zone. These areas will be marked with wooden survey stakes. In addition, the fuel transfer hose will be lit during hours of darkness.

The Healy and Renda crews departed Dutch Harbor Jan. 3 and arrived to the ice edge Jan. 6. The vessels then traversed dynamic and changing Bering Sea ice conditions for more than 300 nautical miles.

“This is a huge milestone having both ships safely moored in Nome. There has been tremendous teamwork taking place on the ground in Nome as well as on the sea between the Healy and the Renda to safely offload this fuel,” said Jason Evans of Sitnasauk Native Corporation.

For more information contact Chief Petty Officer Kip Wadlow at 907-209-9960.

KODIAK, Alaska — The crew of a Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter medevaced a 34-year-old man from a container vessel 86 miles south of Sand Point after he sustained a hand injury Thursday.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard District 17 were notified by email of the injury aboard the 650-foot Chinese-flagged CSCL Callao at 2:15 p.m. A Jayhawk crew already in Sand Point on their way to a forward operating location on St. Paul Island was tasked with recovering the man.

After fueling, the Jayhawk was on scene at 5:45 p.m. and safely hoisted the man from the container ship in 31 mph winds and with 12-foot seas. The man, who injured his hand when a hatch closed on it, was transferred to the clinic in Cold Bay until a commercial flight was available to fly him out for more advanced medical care.

KODIAK, Alaska — Coast Guard crews in Kodiak and Unalaska are taking steps to safeguard the crab fleet and other fishing vessels engaged in ground fisheries throughout the winter months this week.

With an increased number of vessels operating in the region, the Coast Guard will again forward deploy two MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crews Thursday from Air Station Kodiak to St. Paul to provide a more rapid response should the need arise. The forward operating location in St. Paul will be fully staffed and operational by Saturday.

"In order to respond to maritime life threatening emergencies where hours matter, forward deploying a helicopter to St. Paul during the winter crab fishing season has repeatedly proven to a successful strategy to save lives," said Capt. Bark Lloyd, chief of response for the 17th Coast Guard District.

By forward deploying aircraft to St. Paul, Coast Guard aircrews eliminate a six hour transit from Kodiak plus an hour refueling stop from the time of initial response to any distressed mariners, critical hours in most situations. Winter is the busiest time of year for fishing activity in the Bering Sea under some of the worst weather conditions. A high endurance cutter will also be in the region ready to respond with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew aboard.

Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak is conducting dockside exams and safety compliance checks throughout Western Alaska to safeguard the fishing fleet for the upcoming 2012 opilio and Kodiak tanner crab seasons on Jan. 15.

"These examinations and compliance checks ensure each vessel’s safety equipment and gear are in good working order before fishermen depart for the season openers,” said Lt. Matthew Zinn, MSD Kodiak supervisor. "Fishermen will be able to correct any deficiencies before the season begins Jan. 15. We also encourage them to contact the Marine Safety Detachment for a complimentary dockside exam and answer any questions about commercial fishing vessel regulations that they might have."

MSD Kodiak will deploy teams to King Cove and Sand Point prior to the opilio and tanner crab seasons. Fishermen participating in this fishery are also asked to notify the Coast Guard 24 hours before a vessel's initial departure from port. Any crab vessels with crab pots aboard must notify the Coast Guard via telephone or fax and provide the following information:

• The name and official number of the vessel;

• Name of the person making the notification;

• Number of pots aboard and maximum number of pots their stability letter allows for and;

• The expected time of departure.

This information allows Coast Guard examiners to ensure a safety compliance check was performed on the vessel.

To make the above notification, for departures from Dutch Harbor, Akutan, and Pribilof’s, call MSD Unalaska, 907-581-3466 or fax 907-581-3468; for departures from Kodiak, Sand Point, King Cove, and Cold Bay, call MSD Kodiak, 907-486-5918 or fax 907-487-5585. For all others, call Sector Anchorage 907-271-6700 or fax 907-271-6765.

According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, 37 vessels have preregistered for particiption in the opilio fishery, a number that is expected to increase in the coming weeks, and about 80 vessels are scheduled to register for the Kodiak district tanner crab fishery.

Opilio crab season has been open since Oct. 15, 2011, however most boats fish for Opilio crab in January. This is due in part to shore side processor schedules for products and the fall push for Bering Sea red king crab. The fishery will remain open until the total guideline harvest level of 88,894,000 pounds is caught. The tanner crab fishery opens at noon on Jan. 15 and will remain open until the total guideline harvest level of 950,000 pounds has been caught.

Fishermen who do not have a valid decal for this season can call MSD Kodiak at 907-486-5918 or MSD Unalaska at 907-5813466 to schedule an exam. Fishermen can also call to schedule a free safety compliance check.

VALDEZ, Alaska — Coast Guard personnel stationed in Valdez broke out their snow shovels to assist the community following record snowfall over the past week.

Valdez, appropriately named the “Snow Capital of the United States,” receives an average of 30 feet of snow each winter. The winter of 1989 to 1990 currently holds the record as the snowiest winter ever with a total of 46 feet of snowfall. According to the National Weather Service, as of 8 a.m. on Jan. 12, 26.5 feet of snow has fallen in Valdez.

Massive amounts of snow quickly became a problem, threatening to collapse roofs in the community and shutting down schools. City snow removal measures have been hindered due to equipment shortages and lack of personnel to assist with the impressive snowfall.

Personnel from Marine Safety Unit Valdez, Sector Field Office Valdez, Coast Guard Cutter Long Island, Station Valdez, and Electronics Support Detachment Valdez, collectively referred to as Coast Guard Forces Valdez, have stepped up to assist the city in removing the rising snow.

Operations dependant, Forces Valdez has committed eight-person crews working rotating shifts around the clock to assist the city in removing snow from the roofs of the elementary school and other buildings around town. Seven-person crews are also working around the clock to manage snow removal operations within the 28-unit Coast Guard housing complex and the many other Coast Guard buildings and property throughout town.

Coast Guard crews have been available when needed in emergency situations, as happened today when a shedding roof avalanched into the side of a neighbor’s home, cutting off access to the front door and knocking two side doors off their frames.

“We are doing all that we can to support the city,” said Cmdr. Benjamin Hawkins, commanding officer of MSU Valdez. “We have Coast Guard personnel in the field working with other volunteers to clear snow from affected buildings and are contributing personnel to the city-managed response as well.”

Needed equipment, including snow scoops and ice cutting devices, has arrived, enabling the city to increase snow removal efforts on affected buildings. In addition, the city has stood up its Emergency Operations Center to oversee the overall response to the heavy snowfall.

For more information regarding the Coast Guard’s snow removal efforts in Valdez, please contact Lt. j.g. Allie Ferko at allison.e.ferko@uscg.mil, 907-835-7209 (office) or 972-533-8185 (cell).

NOME, Alaska — The Coast Guard and the City of Nome strongly encourage the residents of Nome to avoid traveling on the ice as the Coast Guard Cutter Healy and tanker Renda begin transiting shore fast ice surrounding the city.

The Healy and the Russian tanker Renda are now approximately 27 nautical miles away from the city.

“Because of the Healy and Renda’s proximity to the city we want to strongly encourage residents of Nome to avoid going out onto the ice to view the vessels. The behavior of the ice as the vessels transit closer to the city is extremely unpredictable and ice conditions could change rapidly,” said Coast Guard Lt. Nicole Auth, Coast Guard safety zone coordinator in Nome.

“We strongly encourage residents to remain on shore and avoid transiting on the ice as the ships transit in and out of the shore fast ice until the ice has time to re-freeze,” said Auth.

Throughout the duration of the transfer operations, persons and vehicles will be restricted from areas 50 yards around fuel delivery hoses and 100 yards from the tanker Renda per an established Coast Guard safety zone. These areas will be marked with wooden survey stakes. In addition, the fuel transfer hose will be lit during hours of darkness.

The best place to view the operations will be from the uplands near Middle Beach along the south side of the Small Boat Harbor. Coast Guard personnel monitoring the safety zone will be available in a vehicle at that location to answer any questions beginning at 8 a.m. on Friday.

It is encouraged for residents to monitor Nome radio stations and television stations for the latest information.

Persons with questions concerning the safety zone should contact Lt. Nicole Auth at 907-321-2921.

KODIAK, Alaska — Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Kodiak personnel responded to the sinking of three local vessels in Kodiak's St. Paul Harbor Tuesday.

"Vessels sinking due to snow overload at the pier impact not only the owners but have an adverse impact on our local environment," said Cmdr. Adam Tyndale, chief of response at Coast Guard Sector Anchorage. "In this instance, there was only minor pollution. In light of the recent winter storms, we would like to encourage all mariners to check their vessels and clean off any accumulated snowfall."

The Coast Guard was notified of the fishing vessel Peregrine sinking at approximately 9:30 a.m. by the Kodiak Harbormaster Office. A responding  crew from MSD Kodiak arrived on scene shortly thereafter to observe the 30-foot fishing vessel sunk at its moorings.

MSD Kodiak personnel estimate less than one gallon of oil was spilled into the harbor. The vessel was successfully refloated with help from the crew of the 35-foot fishing vessel Abby Jo later that afternoon. No further clean-up action was needed and the pollution investigation is complete. No injuries were reported.

The 31-foot pleasure craft Pay Dirt and the 40-foot house boat Kodiak Explorer also sank Tuesday. Both vessels were successfully refloated and no injuries or pollution was reported.

All three vessels sank due to the excessive accumulation of snow and inadequate snow removal. Problems occur when snow accrues on a vessel, negatively impacting its stability. Ice can also build up inside overboard discharges and on weather decks, contributing to flooding and inhibiting buoyancy.

Pollution caused by boats sinking could potentially result in fines up to $40,000 per day, per violation, in addition to salvage costs.

To prevent sinking of a vessel the Coast Guard recommends:

- Removal of snow and ice accumulation including keeping scuppers clear of blockage

- Checking the shaft packing for excess leakage.

- Performing routine checks for signs of loose or deteriorating planks on wooden hulled vessels.

- Conducting a routine inspection of your automatic bilge pump.

- Visually inspecting all thru-hull fittings for damage or loose connections.

- Removing all unnecessary fuel from your boat if you are planning to be away for an extended period of time.

For more information please contact Lt. Andrea Manuel at 907-271-2611.