Urgent marine warning after weekend Coast Guard rescue operation

TUESDAY, JULY 5: Two fishermen sparked a huge rescue operation by failing to respond to a string of emergency calls.

The crew of the “Walk Tall” power craft was totally unaware that police boats were searching for them for seven hours and a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft had been launched from Norfolk in Virginia.

Today the Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre urged mariners to ensure they listened to their radio and their vessels were fitted with the appropriate safety equipment.

Bermuda Radio received a call from concerned family members of the Walk Tall crew at around 11am on Saturday.

The mariners had told their families they would be returning home in the early hours of Saturday morning.

Bermuda Radio then began making a series of call outs to the vessel via Marine VHF Radio and tried to contact the crew on their cell phones, but without any luck.

They also made further calls to family members while port and harbour checks were conducted by the Marine Police.

When this proved unsuccessful, Bermuda Radio made repeated Urgent Marine Safety Information broadcasts about the overdue vessel.

Marine Police boats went to the last known position and carried out an extensive search of the area without sighting Walk Tall.

At 4pm, following extensive checks and calls via radio, port and moorings checks and an offshore search by Marine Police, assistance was requested from the Rescue Coordination Centre in Norfolk, Virginia, for an aircraft to start a larger offshore search.

Rescue co-coordinators feared the crew was in difficulty and the boat was drifting further offshore.

But at 6pm the two sailors contacted Bermuda Radio and reported their safe arrival back at Jews Bay. The Coast Guard plane, as well as other rescue craft, was stood down.

A spokesman for Bermuda Radio said: “We informed the crew of the exhaustive search efforts that had been ongoing over the last seven hours and of the need to inform family members or Bermuda Radio when deciding to stay out fishing for longer than anticipated.

“We also stressed the crucial need to also keep a good listening watch on VHF Channel 16.

“It must be stressed the efforts and risks placed to the various parties tasked with the search for this vessel, including the use of resources taken from other potential incidents; the lack of a proper float plan with family or Bermuda Radio; and the vessel’s failure to maintain a proper VHF listening watch on Channel 16 exacerbated this incident.”