COAST GUARD RESCUES 2 FROM LIFE RAFT ATLANTIC CITY – With heavy weather rolling in, the Coast Guard Cutter Ibis rescued two men from a life raft after their 45-foot scalloper sank about 20 miles east of Atlantic City today. The F/V Chico Bravo began taking on water and sank leaving the two men onboard, John Phillips III, 36, and Ian Iysenbach, 21, with just enough time to throw their life-raft overboard and grab their emergency positioning indicator radio beacon (EPIRB) before abandoning the boat. Coast Guard Group Atlantic City received a call about 2 p.m. from the Rescue Coordination Center in Portsmouth, Va., reporting the activation of the EPIRB, the location of the signal and the registered information for the boat. Group Atlantic City immediately issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to alert any other boats in the area about the distress. A rescue helicopter from Airstation Atlantic City, a 47-foot rescue boat from Station Atlantic City, and the Cutter Ibis from Cape May, N.J., headed to the source of the distress signal as well. A good samaritan, the F/V Captain Collet, called the Coast Guard and reported a raft with two people waving their arms on board. The Coast Guard units arrived on scene about 3:30 p.m. to find the raft in 6 to 8-foot seas and 20 mile-an-hour winds. A small boat from the Ibis pulled the two to safety and returned to the cutter where an EMT onboard administered basic care. The Ibis transported the two survivors to an awaiting ambulance at Station Atlantic City where they were taken to Atlantic City Medical Center for further care. The conditions of the survivors and the cause of the sinking are unknown at this time. More information about EPIRB’s can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/docs/si0196.htm. COAST GUARD RESCUES 2 FROM LIFE RAFT ATLANTIC CITY – With heavy weather rolling in, the Coast Guard Cutter Ibis rescued two men from a life raft after their 45-foot scalloper sank about 20 miles east of Atlantic City today. The F/V Chico Bravo began taking on water and sank leaving the two men onboard, John Phillips III, 36, and Ian Iysenbach, 21, with just enough time to throw their life-raft overboard and grab their emergency positioning indicator radio beacon (EPIRB) before abandoning the boat. Coast Guard Group Atlantic City received a call about 2 p.m. from the Rescue Coordination Center in Portsmouth, Va., reporting the activation of the EPIRB, the location of the signal and the registered information for the boat. Group Atlantic City immediately issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to alert any other boats in the area about the distress. A rescue helicopter from Airstation Atlantic City, a 47-foot rescue boat from Station Atlantic City, and the Cutter Ibis from Cape May, N.J., headed to the source of the distress signal as well. A good samaritan, the F/V Captain Collet, called the Coast Guard and reported a raft with two people waving their arms on board. The Coast Guard units arrived on scene about 3:30 p.m. to find the raft in 6 to 8-foot seas and 20 mile-an-hour winds. A small boat from the Ibis pulled the two to safety and returned to the cutter where an EMT onboard administered basic care. The Ibis transported the two survivors to an awaiting ambulance at Station Atlantic City where they were taken to Atlantic City Medical Center for further care. The conditions of the survivors and the cause of the sinking are unknown at this time. More information about EPIRB’s can be found at http://www.uscg.mil/hq/g-m/moa/docs/si0196.htm.
