USCG Medevacs JS Comet’s Sick Crew

Nineteen sick crewmembers aboard the 584-foot cargo ship JS Comet were hoisted Tuesday evening from their anchored vessel 3 miles off Port Canaveral, Florida.

 
Two MH-60 helicopter crews of the US Coast Guard safely hoisted the crewmembers from the vessel in 35 knot winds and five to 6-foot seas associated with Tropical Storm Arthur.

Due to deteriorating weather conditions and the crew’s symptoms worsening, the Coast Guard determined the safest course of action was to evacuate the patients via helicopter rather than a smallboat.

The JS Comet crew became ill early Tuesday reportedly suffering food poisoning like symptoms, and following consultation with the Center for Disease Control and a Coast Guard flight surgeon and other medical professionals, the decision was made to transport the 19 crewmembers to a local area hospital.

Two crewmembers from the JS Comet not experiencing illness remain aboard the vessel which is under a Captain of the Port Order, which prohibits the 584-foot South Korean-flagged cargo ship to enter any U.S. port of call until the nature illness and the expected duration.

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Press Release, July 2, 2014, Image: Marine Traffic