Association for Rescue at Sea, Inc. - The 2000 AFRAS Gold Medal / AMVER Award Ceremony

The 2000 AFRAS Gold Medal / AMVER Award Ceremony


AMVER Award - 2000	2000 AFRAS Gold Medal	2000 AFRAS Award Ceremony

Gold Medal Award

The 2000 AFRAS Gold Medal was awarded to Timothy S. Adams, Aviation Survival Technician Second Class, United States Coast Guard, on September 27 for outstanding achievement in the performance of duty during a rescue on 13 March 1999.

Petty Officer Adams was cited for heroic achievement in aerial flight while serving as rescue swimmer aboard Coast Guard helicopters 6036 and 6028 during a demanding night rescue. In response to an urgent MAYDAY from the fishing vessel ALSKA, the aircrew from Air Station Kodiak launched into the teeth of a raging blizzard. While en route to the ALSKA’s location and with ice rapidly accumulating on the aircraft, the rotor blade de-ice system failed and forced an emergency return to Kodiak. The crew switched aircraft and launched again, flying through whiteout and icing conditions to reach the search area. When three persons were located floating in survival suits; Petty Officer Adams volunteered to enter the 35-degree water to effect a rescue. As the aircraft hovered in gusting 35-knot winds, he was lowered into 6-foot seas. Working efficiently despite a leak in his dry-suit, he placed the first survivor into the basket and saw him safely hoisted. As he readied the next man, the survivor erupted in a combative rage brought on by severe hypothermia. The man began flailing and swamping Adams and his actions caused a line he had used to tie off the strobe and EPIRB to dangerously entangle both survivor and rescuer in the water. Petty Officer Adams tried to deploy his knife to cut the line, but realized that his hands were too cold to open it. He broke the line with brute strength, cleared it, and began trying to place the survivor in the basket. The fisherman remained combative throughout several tense minutes, and the best Adams could do was to get the man sprawled across the top of the basket. The Flight Mechanic tried to exploit a narrow moment of opportunity by lifting the basket just out of the water, hoping the victim would collapse into the device. Instead, the man frantically jumped off the basket and back into the water. Adams, with exhaustion setting in and his suit filling with water, elected to go after the other survivor. Adams successfully completed a rescue of the third crewmember before being hoisted himself.

With time running out for the man below, Petty Officer Adams asked to deploy again and was lowered to the water. Despite another struggle, he secured a rescue strop in place and was hoisted in tandem with the survivor. Adams dangled precariously outside the aircraft as the flight mechanic struggled to get the fisherman’s frozen body to bend enough to enter the cabin. Only after the survivor’s suit was cut open to allow excess water to drain were the combined efforts of the flight mechanic and swimmer successful in bringing him into the aircraft. As a direct result of his skill and valor, three persons were rescued from life-threatening peril in stormy seas. Petty Officer Adams’ courage, judgement, and devotion to duty are most heartily commended and are in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Coast Guard.

The Association for Rescue at Sea was pleased to award the 2000 AMVER Plaques to the Chilean-flagged ship M/V ALICAHUE and the Singapore-flagged M/V NATIONAL PROGRESS.

On 7 August 1999 the Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) received a 406Mhz EPIRB alert whose call sign matched the Hong Kong-flagged, 450-foot general cargo ship M/V LADY BELLA. In view of the remote location of the alert, the JRCC queried the AMVER system and determined the M/V ALICAHUE, a 550-foot Chilean bulk carrier as the closest vessel. The JRCC contacted the ALICAHUE and requested the vessel to steam through the position and make general calls. The master agreed, and arriving on scene, the AMVER vessel reported the LADY BELLA was fighting an active fire, apparently in the accommodations area of the superstructure. ALICAHUE planned to stand by to assist if necessary. The ship was dead in the water, with its lifeboat tied alongside although the crew did not intend to abandon ship at that point. The Chilean ship agreed to confirm if LADY BELLA was in danger of sinking, and keep the JRCC informed via Inmarsat. Later reports indicated the ship’s accommodation area was burned; there was no food, no documents and no communications; and the engineroom was flooded. Since the owner was arranging a tow, the crew would standby until morning. At 0200, the fire resumed and the entire crew of 31 safely evacuated the ship to M/V ALICAHUE, enroute to Japan. The Captain and crew of M/V ALICAHUE are cited for going well beyond the call of duty; 21 hours on scene; and for their rescue of 31 crewmembers.

On 17 January 1999 the 400-foot Panamanian cargo ship M/V CAROLINE S, carrying 800 tons of river sand, experienced progressive flooding from its cargo hold to the engine room over a three-day period. A broken ship’s frame caused the ship to send a telex requesting immediate assistance. The ship’s master signaled his intention to remain on board until the last possible moment, due to sea conditions, and await responding rescue ships. The RCC diverted several AMVER ships, including the M/V NATIONAL PROGRESS, M/V IRON NEWCASTLE and M/V ORIENTAL ROAD. The ships diverted from their respective courses and were provided with updated positions of the distressed ship, which soon slowed to bare steerageway. A US Navy P-3 aircraft on scene kept IRON NEWCASTLE and NATIONAL PROGRESS aware of each other’s position enroute. As the ships closed to within 10NM, the Burmese crew was forced to abandon ship into 2 liferafts. A shotline was fired to one of the liferafts and it was hauled alongside IRON NEWCASTLE. At that point, M/V CAROLINE S fully sank. IRON NEWCASTLE recovered the first liferaft and minutes later NATIONAL PROGRESS arrived on scene with the 2nd liferaft and recovered the remaining crewmen.

The Captain and Crew of M/V NATIONAL PROGRESS are cited for their outstanding seamanship and for going beyond the call of duty to aid in rescue at sea.