(from Stars and Stripes July 7, 2000)
click here to see photo and caption
BY RICK CHERNITZER
Stars and Stripes
Sailors deployed to Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, flew to the aid of a
typhoon-disabled merchant ship on Wednesday.
A detachment from the VP-4 “Skinny Dragons” squadron answered a
distress call from the German-flagged merchant vessel Southern Amelia II, on its
maiden voyage from Shanghai to Seattle. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Mike
Burke, search-and-rescue coordinator for the Coast Guard, Marianas Section,
Guam, said the ship was caught in Typhoon Kirogi 862 nautical miles southeast of
Kadena.
Strong winds from the typhoon caused one of the ship’s two cranes to
break loose and crash through the forward hold, damaging the rudder. The crew
tried to take the ship to a nearby port in Mindanao, the Philippines, but the
storm also knocked out its communications, propulsion and electrical power.
The Coast Guard requested assistance through the Pacific Rescue
Coordination Center in Hawaii. A P-3 four-engine turboprop scouted the area and
located the disabled ship.
The aircraft remained in the area until the Danish merchant ship Thor
Alice was diverted to collect the Amelia’s 19 crewmembers. The ship was to
stay in the area until two salvage tugs could arrive to tow the Amelia to
Mindanao.
After the Thor Alice’s arrival, the P-3 crew flew to Guam to remain
overnight. They were expected to
return to Kadena Thursday afternoon.