Rescue Crews Save 5 From Sinking Boat in Sakonnet

A boat traveling from Connecticut began taking on water after striking an object in the Sakonnet River Monday evening.

  Five people were rescued Monday evening after their boat began taking on water in the Sakonnet River.  "We've received a report from the U.S. Coast Guard that there was a boat taking on water in the Sakonnet River," said Portsmouth Fire Chief Michael Cranson.  The powerboat with five on board was traveling from Connecticut to a Portsmouth marina when it struck an object in the Sakonnet River around 6:30 p.m.  Rescue crews and boats from Portsmouth, Middletown, Tiverton, Providence and Warwick, as well as the U.S. Coast Guard, were called to respond. Boats from Middletown, Tiverton and Portsmouth were the first to arrive. Mutual aid from Warwick and Providence was later canceled.  All five people on the boat were transported to shore. The…

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UPDATE: Search Underway After Empty Boat Found

An empty boat was found near the bridge Friday morning.

[Update as of 3:43 p.m.]  The Coast Guard is searching near the Mount Hope Bridge after an empty dinghy was found Friday morning, reports The Providence Journal.  Police and fire have been searching the area since before 9 a.m. this morning.  An empty small boat was found around 8:30 a.m. off of Common Fence Point, according to Capt. Michael O'Brien, spokesman for the Portsmouth Fire Department. The search will be called off after 2 a.m. Saturday morning if nothing is found, according to O'Brien. A University of Massachusetts (UMass) Dartmouth soccer jacket with the number "23" was found, according to a release from the Coast Guard.  Rescue crews believe the boat did have someone aboard at some point, O'Brien said.  A search began shortly …

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Community Holds Vigil for Teddy Oliviera

The community gathered at King Park on Wednesday to remember Oliviera and pray for his safe return home.

Family, friends and supporters joined together at King Park on Wednesday for a vigil for missing teen Theodore “Teddy” Oliviera, who was last seen late Monday night, WPRI.com reports. "It's just hard," Jasmine Valdes said tearfully on Wednesday night, "He needs to come home. I miss him so much." Read the full report here. According to the NewportBuzz, around 200 people came out to King Park for the vigil. Afull gallery of the vigil can be viewed here. On twitter, many expressed that the wished they could be in Newport to support their friends at the park. Others tweeted pictures from the vigil along with messages of hope and wishes for his safe return. All the tweets included the #PrayersForTeddy hashtag that spread so quickly it became a …

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Coast Guard, Police Called to Prudence Island

Officials responded to an incident between boaters on May 26.

Portsmouth police and the Coast Guard were called to Prudence Island on May 26 after boaters began to argue, reports The Sakonnet Times.  No arrests were made at the incident, which occurred in Potter's Cove.  "It was some sort of noise complaint," said Lt. Brian Peters. "No one was arrested."  Potter's Cove is located in the northeast section of Prudence Island. It is a popular location for boaters. 

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Search Suspended for Missing Tugboat Master

The US Coast Guard has suspended their search for a missing Marblehead man who they believe fell into the water off of Newport R.I. Wednesday afternoon.

The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended their search for a Marblehead tugboat master whom they believe fell from a ship about 9 miles off the coast of Newport R.I. Wednesday. Officials believe Brendan O'Leary, 48, of Marblehead, fell off of a New York-based tugboat sometime Wednesday and the search for him was called off Thursday evening, according to this story on WCVB-TV. WCVB-TV reported that Coast Guard officials said "crews on three boats and a helicopter" searched an area about 9 miles off Newport. The tug was towing a barge carrying 45,000 barrels of jet fuel to Boston and the water temperature was about 52 degrees when O'Leary was reported missing, according to this story on WPRI.com. O'Leary was reportedly working onboard the 91-foot …

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Coast Guard Searching for Missing Tugboat Master

The 48-year-old man was reported missing around 2:40 p.m.

Unidentified Bystanders Help Save New Hampshire Man's Life During Storm

During the height of Thursday's thunderstorm, rescue crews from Portsmouth and Tiverton braved the high seas, lightening and hail to rescue a New Hampshire man from the Sakonnet River.

"It was the worst situation you could imagine just short of a hurricane," said Portsmouth Fire Chief Jeffrey P. Lynch after the rescue of a New Hampshire man on the Sakonnet River Thursday. Portsmouth's skies were nearly pitch black as of 6:20 p.m. It had begun to rain. Loud cracks of thunder and bright, sideway streaks of lightning were heard and seen overhead. "It was right in the height of the storm ... The lives of the firefighters were definitely at risk," Lynch said. At 6:25 p.m., the Portsmouth Fire Department received a call reporting an overturned sailboat on the Sakonnet River. Portsmouth fire crews launched their rescue boat into the dark water from the Stone Bridge. At the same time, Tiverton rescue and the U.S. Coast Guard …

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Taking the Search Out of Search and Rescue

Middletown resident and Chief Petty Officer Robert Holland, of Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, helps boaters prepare for emergency communications before hitting the water as the spring boating season gets underway.

Every day the United States Coast Guard conducts 109 Search and Rescue cases, saves an average of 10 lives, assists 192 people and protects $2,791,841 in property.  Right here in Narragansett Bay, the men and women of Coast Guard Station Castle Hill responded to 229 Search and Rescue cases during 2010. We all know that the unexpected can happen to any of us. So, how can we be prepared? What can we do to increase our odds of rescue when something goes wrong during our day at sea? The Coast Guard will need several key pieces of information to start a search and rescue case: We call this the four Ps: position, problem, persons on board and personal flotation devices. Now that we know the information, the Coast Guard will need to assist us …

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Chris Christensen

10:36 am on Tuesday, March 22, 2011

God bless our Coast Guard guyz and galz. They are always there waiting to help us.   more ›