St. Mary Parish Sheriff Blaise Smith advises that over the last 10-day reporting period, the Marine Section of the St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office responded to the following incidents:

 

Stranded Vessel:  July 8, 7:15 am, Tiger Island. 

Deputies with the Marine Section were contacted by dispatch in reference to a stranded boater in the Atchafalaya Basin.

Deputies made contact with the boater by phone and learned that the boat was having motor problems and had been stranded all night. The boater advised the deputies that there were 2 people total in the vessel and they were out of drinking water.

Deputies launched the SMPSO Marine Patrol Vessel and contacted deputies with the Iberia Parish Sheriff’s Office due to the fact that an airboat would be needed for the mission. Upon arrival at the coordinates provided, the search for the vessel began. After making several attempts to locate the vessel, the Marine Patrol vessel returned to the Verdunville Boat Launch for refueling.

Deputies contacted the U.S. Coast Guard and requested assistance to locate the stranded vessel. With the help of a USCG helicopter crew, the vessel was located and the deputies made contact with the stranded boaters. After giving the boaters water to drink, the Marine vessel escorted the boat back into the river channel. The boat was able to make it back to the Wilson Boat launch safely on its own power.

 

Stranded Vessel:  July 8, 5:30 pm, Washout Bozo Canal. 

Deputies with the Marine Section were contacted by dispatch in reference to a stranded boater near Myette Point.

Deputies attempted to make contact with the boater by phone but were unsuccessful. The original call was to the Assumption Parish Sheriff’s Office, so the deputies contacted the APSO and found out that their call had disconnected before they got more information on the boaters. They did provide the approximate location of the vessel.

Deputies launched the SMPSO Marine Patrol Vessel and were able to make communication with the boater to get more information as to their location. The deputies proceeded to the washout at the end of Bozo Canal and located the stranded vessel. The boater was taken aboard SMB-4 and was brought back to the Myette Point Boat Landing without incident.

 

Stranded Vessel:  July 9, 12:20 pm, Blue Point Vermillion Bay.

Deputies with the Marine Section were contacted by dispatch in reference to a stranded boater in the area of Cypremort Point.

Deputies made contact with the boater and received a better location for the vessel.  The boater stated that they were broke down at Blue Point in Vermillion Bay. The SMPSO Marine Patrol Vessel (SMB-3) was launched and the deputies made contact at Blue Point with the stranded boater and one passenger. Both boarded SMB-3, and the stranded vessel was towed back to Cypremort Point without further incident.

 

Stranded Vessel:  July 17, 7:30 pm, Intracoastal Waterway.

Deputies with the Marine Section were contacted by dispatch in reference to a stranded sailing vessel in the Intracoastal Waterway.

Deputies made contact with the boater who reported that the engine had failed on their sailing vessel.  The boater confirmed the location reported and the deputies launched the SMPSO Marine Patrol Vessel (SMB-3) and arrived at the location. Due to the location of the aground vessel, the deputies instructed the boater to deploy a stern anchor along with the bow anchor already deployed. 

The deputies contacted the U.S.C.G. and advised them of the position of the vessel. The U.S.C.G. advised that they would broadcast a notice to mariners about the stranded vessel.

The boater and a passenger boarded SMB-3 and were transported back to the North West Truck Stop without further incident.  

 

 

Contact Information:

Public Information Officer

St. Mary Parish Sheriff’s Office

985-384-1622

pio@stmaryso.com

http://www.stmaryso.com/