Seattle-based Coast Guard Cutter Assisting Response Efforts To Olaf's Destruction

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SEATTLE-BASED COAST GUARD CUTTER ASSISTING RESPONSE EFFORTS TO OLAF'S DESTRUCTION


HONOLULU, Hawaii - Two Coast Guard aircraft and a polar icebreaking cutter are assisting New Zealand emergency personnel and the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency with crisis reponse following cyclone Olaf's destructive path through the South Pacific this week.

Olaf, a category five storm, rocked communities and fishing vessels in Samoa and American Samoa with wind gusts from 135 to 165 miles per hour and 30 to 40-foot seas Tuesday and Wednesday.

The Coast Guard Cutter Polar Star, a 399-foot polar ice breaker homeported in Seattle, has been diverted to assist in search and rescue missions related to Olaf. Polar Star, which travels with two HH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopters and flight crews, was heading home after a six-month deployment to Antarctica and is estimated to arrive in Manu'a Sunday.

At the request of the New Zealand Rescue Coordination Center, a Coast Guard C-130 aircraft from Barbers Point, Hawaii, is searching for a 68-foot fishing vessel in the vicinity of Manu'a, an island just east of Pago Pago. The vessel, Samoan Boy, has seven people on board and has not been heard from for nearly 36 hours.

The Barbers Point C-130 is also assisting in the search for two people missing from the fishing vessel Tautai II, which sank with six crewmembers on board. The other four crewmembers were recovered by another fishing vessel that was in the area.

Wednesday, the Barbers Point C-130 located the fishing vessel Princess Karlinna after the vessel reported it was being battered by the stomr after its steering system had malfunctioned. The aircraft's crew dropped life vests and other supplies to the Princess Karlinna's crew and remained in the area until a rescue vessel arrived on scene.

A second C-130 aircraft, based in Elizabeth City, N.C., is expected to arrive in Pago Pago Friday to deliver FEMA response personnel and equipment to the islands to conduct post-storm surveys. The aircraft will also be available for search and rescue response.