Coast Inspecting Fishing Vessels

February 17, 2009 by Amaete Umanah
Filed under: Aquaponics, Commercial Aquaponics, Uncategorized

Bridgeport (WTNH) - The calendar may say January but it's never too soon to make sure boats are safe. The Coast Guard is inspecting commercial vessels even during the dead of winter.

Chief Warrant Officer Andrew Sweeney knows boats inside and out -- that's his job. Wednesday he brought News Channel 8 along as he inspected the Catherine Moore; it's the boat kids at Bridgeport's Aquaculture School use to learn about the Long Island Sound.

"I have a list of other countries who don't have a good inspection program," Chief Sweeney, of the U.S. Coast Guard, said. "Hundreds and hundreds of people are dying every single year because they don't have [an] adequate inspection program."

That's why the Coast Guard wants you to know that even in the depths of winter, they are out inspecting commercial vessels and making sure everything is up to code from safety features, to running drills with a rescue dummy, to counting life jackets.

"Plenty of life jackets," Chief Sweeney said as he inspects the boat. "They're required to have type 1's. These guys have type 2's."

And during the rescue mission, Liz Kranyik finds the dummy. She's a teacher at the Aquaculture School and frequent crew member.

Because the rescue boat is affiliated with a school, the exercise is in case a student falls overboard during a class. If you think that's never going to happen, well, think about the ferry boats in New York City last week and how they had to do the same drill.

The ferry crews rescued the passengers of flight 1549 out of the Hudson so fast because the Coast Guard makes them do rescue drills every month, just like the Catherine Moore.

"The rescue went well. He is out of the water," Liz Kranyik said of the dummy. "He was out of the water in a reasonable period of time. He did not get hypothermia."

All this drilling and inspecting happens year-round. Even far from boating season, in the middle of winter.

Source:http://www.wtnh.com/dpp/news/news_wtnh_bridgeport_coast_guard_inspection_200901211821_rev1

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