Latest news with #RoyalCanadianMarineSearchAndRescue
CTV News
11 hours ago
- General
- CTV News
Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft grounded in B.C. due to crew shortages
The Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft CCGS Moytel off Spanish Banks in Vancouver's outer harbour, Vancouver, B.C., February 7, 2016. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Bayne Stanley A pair of Canadian Coast Guard hovercraft that serve the south coast of British Columbia are temporarily grounded due to staffing shortages at the marine safety and security agency. A lack of qualified personnel at the coast guard's Sea Island station in Richmond have left the air-cushioned vehicles without crews to operate them since last week, the agency confirmed to CTV News on Thursday. 'Hovercraft piloting requires officers be certified in the operation of air-cushioned vehicles,' coast guard spokesperson Anna Muselius said in an emailed statement Thursday. 'An unanticipated crewing shortage at the Canadian Coast Guard Sea Island Station has temporarily limited hovercraft operations since Friday, June 13.' The two B.C.-based hovercraft, CCGS Moytel and CCGS Siyay, are commonly called upon for rapid, shallow-water responses at beaches and other areas that are otherwise inaccessible to rigid-hulled boats. Open-source vessel-tracking websites showed both hovercraft parked on the shore at the Sea Island station Thursday morning. The coast guard says search-and-rescue operations in the region are being maintained by fast-rescue inflatable boats while the hovercraft are out of service. The agency says volunteers with the Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue are also 'at the ready and able to assist in the event of an emergency in the area.' The coast guard did not have a timeline available for when the hovercraft would return to service.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Yahoo
Woman whose empty boat washed ashore near Nanaimo may not be aware she's considered missing: RCMP
RCMP say they have received many leads but still have no clear picture of what may have happened to a 34-year-old woman whose sailboat was found washed ashore near Nanaimo on Thursday. Police say the 10-metre white sailboat was found near Bayshore Drive and Hammond Road and is registered to Amber Nitchman, whose whereabouts are unknown. Const. Gary O'Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP said police aren't certain if Nitchman was on the boat before it washed ashore, and they are pursuing every angle possible. "This is a missing persons operation," he said, clarifying that is different than a recovery mission, which is what would be undertaken if Nitchman was believed to be deceased at sea. A two-day scouring of land and sea, led by search and rescues crews, failed to turn up any indication that Nitchman was in the water or off-shore, O'Brien said. He told CBC News the lead in the search has now been turned over to RCMP. "It could be the premise that the individual has gone someplace and they're not aware they've been reported as missing," he said. "That's just one avenue of the investigation." He also said the possibility that she is lost in the ocean has not been ruled out, either. "There's too many pieces that we're missing at this point ... It's a very active investigation." Russell Berg, media liaison and advanced crew member with Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue for Nanaimo, told CHEK News crews were out until 11 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Friday, with clear weather conditions allowing for a thorough search of a wide area. But, he said, even under those circumstances, "it's a big ocean out there." Police are asking for anyone with any information to contact investigators.
CBC
17-05-2025
- CBC
Woman whose empty boat washed ashore near Nanaimo may not be aware she's considered missing: RCMP
RCMP say they have received many leads but still have no clear picture of what may have happened to a 34-year-old woman whose sailboat was found washed ashore near Nanaimo on Thursday. Police say the 10-metre white sailboat was found near Bayshore Drive and Hammond Road and is registered to Amber Nitchman, whose whereabouts are unknown. Const. Gary O'Brien of the Nanaimo RCMP said police aren't certain if Nitchman was on the boat before it washed ashore, and they are pursuing every angle possible. "This is a missing persons operation," he said, clarifying that is different than a recovery mission, which is what would be undertaken if Nitchman was believed to be deceased at sea. A two-day scouring of land and sea, led by search and rescues crews, failed to turn up any indication that Nitchman was in the water or off-shore, O'Brien said. He told CBC News the lead in the search has now been turned over to RCMP. "It could be the premise that the individual has gone someplace and they're not aware they've been reported as missing," he said. "That's just one avenue of the investigation." He also said the possibility that she is lost in the ocean has not been ruled out, either. "There's too many pieces that we're missing at this point ... It's a very active investigation." Russell Berg, media liaison and advanced crew member with Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue for Nanaimo, told CHEK News crews were out until 11 p.m. Thursday and 4 p.m. Friday, with clear weather conditions allowing for a thorough search of a wide area. But, he said, even under those circumstances, "it's a big ocean out there."
