ShipSpotting.com Forum
Shipspotters all over the world => Shipping News and information => Topic started by: maripaul on January 11, 2006, 05:49:11 AM
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1/10/2006
Bar pilot falls as he switches vessels
Stormy seas hamper efforts as helicopter crews search ocean
The Daily Astorian
The U.S. Coast Guard continued this morning to search for a Columbia River bar pilot thrown into the Pacific Ocean while routinely transferring between boats late Monday.
Kevin Murray, 50, fell between the Chinook pilot boat and the cargo vessel Dry Beam, which he was leaving, as a wave hammered the boats, tossing him into 47-degree water around 9:30 p.m.
He was wearing a float coat, dark pants and a fanny pack at the time of the fall, which occurred near Buoy 2, several miles south of the entrance to the Columbia, Lt. j.g. Amy Sandbothe said at U.S. Coast Guard Group Astoria.
The Coast Guard launched an HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Astoria and two 47-foot motor lifeboats from Station Cape Disappointment, which had to turn back because of 15- to 18-foot seas, 40-knot winds and overall treacherous conditions at the Columbia River bar.
With visibility of less than a quarter mile, the helicopter also turned back after searching for about three hours, Sandbothe said.
This morning, two more helicopters were launched from Air Station Astoria at first light to search for the missing bar pilot, who is described as about 6 feet tall and 230 to 280 pounds.
The Columbia River bar pilots are also searching for Murray by helicopter.
In addition, the Coast Guard has placed a data-marker buoy in the water to monitor the surface current and help refine the search, and will launch rescue boats if weather conditions improve, Sandbothe said.
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thanks for the news, those Bar Pilots are among the best out there. Oddly enough they serve Portland,Oregon and Vancouver,WA primarily, which arent covered at all on this website yet much that i have seen other then a few of John's pics. If you visit the pilots website you can see how tough these brave pilots have it, hope all turns out well there...
found this interesting link to a story about the Bar pilots, they make a ton of money, but well worth it for the most 'dangerous stretch' in the world..
http://www.portlandtribune.com/archview.cgi?id=26722
here is the Columbia River Pilots Website:
http://www.columbiariverbarpilots.com/
lots of amazing pics
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Agree entirely with KRuscher81 about the Pilots. It's a dangerous job okay. Hope everything turns out for the better and the Pilot is found safe. Keep us posted
Regards Glencairn :-?
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He is lost at sea - literally crossed over the bar - Columbia bar that is. One report is that the vessel was outbound in a storm. The vessel was a car carrier, so the pilot would have had a long climb down on a rope ladder from the main deck.
Below is another article:
Search continues for man missing in the Columbia
So far, it's been a grueling search, with helicopters and boats braving fog and high winds to look for the man.
Search crews are still combing the chilly waters near the mouth of the Columbia River for a missing bar pilot.
It's been a grueling search, with helicopters and boats braving fog and high winds to look for the man. He was climbing down from a cargo ship when he fell into the ocean.
"The water temperature when he went in was 47 degrees and that has a huge effect on the human body," said Lieutenant Amy San-bowthy, with the Coast Guard.
Regardless, there is a small chance he survived, as he was wearing a float coat. "It's an additional protective device that protects you from exposure and helps you float on the surface of the water."
Crews will keep looking as weather permits.
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Bar pilot's body found along Wash. shoreline
11:35 AM PST on Thursday, January 12, 2006
Associated Press
ABERDEEN, WASH. -- The body of a bar pilot who went overboard into the Pacific Ocean has been found along the Washington state coast, authorities said Thursday.
kgw.com Graphic
Kevin Murray, 50, had been missing since Monday. He disappeared as he was making the leap from an oceanbound freighter to a shuttle vessel that was supposed to return him to shore.
Bar pilots are specialists who guide ships over the Columbia River bar, a treacherous passage.
A walker along the beach found the body shortly before 11 p.m. Wednesday, said Dave Pimentel, chief criminal deputy for the Grays Harbor County sheriff's office.
He said the body was on a beach about halfway between the towns of Copalis Beach and Pacific Beach -- about 60 miles north of where Murray disappeared. The two towns are north of Grays Harbor and the city of Aberdeen.
Pimentel said ocean currents are moving swiftly in the recent series of Pacific Ocean storms and that could account for the distance the body traveled. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed that the body was that of Murray.
"We have a resolution," said Lt. j.g. Amy Sandbothe, who is stationed in Astoria.