Significant Maritime Incidents

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Date: 16/04/2025

Wednesday 16th April 8:25 am – Bermuda Radio received a cell phone call from the local 28 ft power boat Nail Box. The boat with 1 person onboard was disabled with an engine fault near Two Rock Passage, as it was suspected that the boat was in the channel and possibly causing and obstruction, the Coast Guard was tasked with towing the boat out of the way. The boat was towed to a boat yard in Mills Creek for repairs without further incident.


Date: 15/04/2025

Tuesday 15th April, 10:00 – The Duty Officer at Bermuda Radio had been monitoring an inbound French yacht overnight. The yacht was broadcasting the name via AIS but was not contactable on VHF Radio and made slow progress towards the east end of the island. Once the yacht was off Castle Roads they entered Castle Harbour and did not respond to calls advising they were running into danger. Coast Guard were informed as soon as it was apparent that the yacht was not going to St Georges Harbour to clear customs as required and an RBR Coast Guard boat met with the visiting yacht in Castle Harbour. The Coast Guard safely escorted the French sailing yacht to Customs and Immigration in St Georges Harbour .


Date: 14/04/2025

Monday 14th April, 12:00 Noon – The Harbour Master of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club contacted Bermuda Radio as a Local Bermuda Registered yacht had been on a members berth all weekend. The vessel was contacted by Bermuda Radio and an alternative arrangement for mooring at RBYC was agreed upon.


Date: 09/04/2025

Wednesday 9th April, 9:35 am – The Bermuda Coast Guard contacted Bermuda Radio as a 911 call had been handled by Police COMOPS, the Coast Guard boat Rescue 1 had been dispatched to Emilys Bay St Davids to help a person living on a boat get ashore to an ambulance. Bermuda Radio tried to contact the reporting source to identify the boat and location of the mooring within Emilys bay. The boat was a 40 ft sloop, with no name at the entrance of the bay. Approximately 30 minutes after the initial call the patient was transferred by Coast Guard to an ambulance waiting at Chapel of Ease Dock, St Davids, for onward transportation to hospital.


Date: 09/04/2025

Wednesday 9th April, 4:30 pm – RCC Bermuda received an EPIRB alert from the Egyptian Panamax bulk carrier WADI TIBA in a position approximately 220 miles to the North-north-east of Bermuda. The EPIRB was followed by a second EPIRB alert from a separate beacon registered to the same ship, worryingly the ship was not contactable by RCC Bermuda, although it could be monitored on Satellite AIS passing to the north at 10 knots enroute from Algeciras, Spain to Baltimore, U.S.A. RCC Bermuda coordinated with RCC Norfolk and RCC Cairo to establish contact with the ship and find out the reason for the two EPIRB activations. RCC Norfolk sent an Satellite generated EGC message to shipping in the area and RCC Bermuda requested further information regarding the vessel by NAVTEX and radio broadcasts to all shipping in the area. RCC Norfolk followed up with the ships management company who, after speaking directly with the ship, established that the ship was not in distress. The reason for the two false activations in close succession is not understood.


Date: 08/04/2025

Tuesday 8th April, 9:30 am – RCC Bermuda received a VHF call from the inbound visiting yacht GODSPEED, the USA registered 50 ft Ketch, last port Norfolk, Va, had two people onboard and was disabled due to engine issues. Later in the afternoon Bermuda Yacht Services agreed to a commercial tow and assisted the yacht alongside to clear customs.


Date: 08/04/2025

Tuesday 8th April, 5:35 pm – After her planned stay in Bermuda the passenger ship NIEUW AMSTERDAM was outbound in the North Channel, when it became apparent that a passenger needed to disembark to receive treatment ashore due to a medical emergency. RCC Bermuda co-ordinated between the ship’s agent, King Edward Memorial Hospital and Fire Dispatch to land the passenger ashore before the ship continued her passage to Falmouth, U.K. The patient disembarked in the vicinity of the Sea Buoy using the ships own tender, the ships medical team made up part of the tender crew and handed the patient over to paramedics at the Ambulance waiting at Ordnance Island, St Georges.


Date: 03/04/2025

Thursday 3rd April, 4:15 pm – RCC Bermuda received a 911 call from a member of the public at Empire Grocery Store near Devonshire Dock on the North Shore. The reporting source is concerned for a person observed in the water near the shoreline who is not responding to calls and is acting in an unusual manner. A Royal Bermuda Regiment Coast Guard unit is on patrol nearby and arrives on scene quickly to find the person in the water wearing inappropriate clothing and unable to explain what he was doing. The swimmer is taken to Devonshire Dock shivering from his extended time in the water and exhibits unusual behaviour such that an ambulance is arranged and transfers him to hospital for further monitoring.


Date: 30/03/2025

Sunday 30th March, 8:10 am - Bermuda Radio received a VHF radio call from the local 23 foot centre console STRONG BOW with 2 people onboard south of Mid Ocean Point on the South Shore. Vessel operator reports a strong smell of fuel and is returning to their mooring in Flatts Inlet at slow speed to investigate the issue. Bermuda Radio monitors the boat’s progress and they confirm reaching their mooring early in the afternoon without further issue.