CGC ORCAS

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Coast Guard cutter decommissioned after 35 years of service

The US Coast Guard has decommissioned the 'Orcas (WPB1327)' during a ceremony in Coos Bay, Oregon, on April 23, 2024. Rear Adm. Charles Fosse, the commander of the Thirteenth Coast Guard District, presided over the ceremony honoring the 35 years of service Orcas and its crews provided to the nation. Commissioned on April 14, 1989, the 'Orcas' was the 27th Island-Class cutter to join the fleet. The 'Orcas' has been stationed in Coos Bay, Oregon, since 1989 and was the 6th Coast Guard cutter to be stationed in Coos Bay since 1935, being used as a multi-mission platform that conducted operations to support SAR response, marine environmental protection, and national defense, from training allied nation maritime forces, conducting the largest-ever cocaine seizure in the history of the Pacific Northwest, and saving countless lives and hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property on the Pacific Ocean. Report with photo: https://www.news.uscg.mil/Press-Releases/Article/3752989/coast-guard-cutter-orcas-decommissioned-after-35-years-of-service-in-coos-bay-o/

Search for missing fisherman suspended

One woman has died and officials have suspended a search for a fisherman who is missing after the fishing vessel 'White Swan III' sank in the Pacific Ocean about 35 miles (56 kilometers) off the coast of Florence, Oregon. Mike Morgan, 68, the master of the fishing vessel issued a mayday call on March 25 around midnight, reporting his vessel was sinking in the northern section of the Heceta Bank fishing grounds. The Coast Guard recovered an unresponsive female in the early morning of March 2. She was declared dead by local emergency crews. Officials later learned she was a crew member on the 'White Swan III. The effort to locate Morgan was suspended on March 27 at 12:30 a.m. after crews searched a 232-square-mile area by sea and air over a 24-hour period.

Search for crew of sunken fishing vessel

The US Coast Guard was searching for Mike Morgan, 68, the master of the 32-foot fishing vessel 'White Swan III', that sank in the morning of March 26, 2022, approximately 35 miles off Florence. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector North Bend received a mayday call at approximately 12 a.m. from Morgan, reporting that his vessel was sinking in the north end of the Heceta Banks fishing area. Morgan reported that a female crew member was also aboard the vessel. The 13th Coast Guard District Command Center received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from the 'White Swan III'. Upon arrival at the scene of the EPIRB location, an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew from Air Facility Newport spotted a debris field and a life raft. The aircrew had to return to base due to heavy fog and low visibility. Crews aboard the 'Orcas', a Sector North Bend MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter crew, and a Coast Guard Station Umpqua River 47-foot Motor Lifeboat were saturating an approximately 21 square-mile area offshore Florence to locate Morgan. Involved in the search were an Air Facility Newport MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter, a Sector North Bend MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter, 47 ft-boats of the Coast Guard Station Siuslaw River and Umpqua River and the 'Orcas'.