Crewman medevaced from cargo ship after injury near Alaska

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew was dispatched to remove the unidentified injured crewman from a 655-foot Ultramax bulk carrier.    A crewman had to be medevaced from the bulk carrier M/V Delsa recently after falling and sustaining serious injuries while working about the vessel, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
   Coast Guard Communications Detachment Kodiak said on Oct. 20 that watchstanders received a call from the captain of the Delsa at 7:30 p.m. the previous evening stating that a 42-year-old crewman fell 20 feet from scaffolding and had possible back and hip injuries.
   A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew then was dispatched to remove the unidentified crewman from the 655-foot motor vessel, which at the time was located 130 miles southeast of Cold Bay, Alaska.
   Once the helicopter and crew arrived on scene, aviation survival technician Chief Petty Officer Matt Laub and a rescue basket were lowered to the top deck of the Delsa. Laub, according to the Coast Guard, was then escorted by Delsa crew members to a narrow staircase where it led to the cargo hold.
   Laub stabilized the man on the rescue basket, then proceeded to direct the 150-foot hoist of the man from the cargo hold to the helicopter.
   “The Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted the man at 10:45 pm, and safely transported him to Cold Bay where he was transferred to commercial medical services. He was further transported to Anchorage, Alaska, for further medical care,” the USCG explained in a statement.
   “This was a complex rescue due to the location of the man and the location of the Delsa’s mast and crane,” Laub said. “Due to our training and the superb coordination between the watchstanders, the crew of the Delsa and this aircrew, we were able to get this man to a higher level of medical care.”
   The Delsa, a Malta-flagged bulk carrier, is owned and operated by Greece-based Franco Compania Naviera SA. The 2015-built 63,166-deadweight-ton (dwt) Ultramax bulk carrier is currently on en route to the Port of Portland, where it is expected to arrive on Oct. 25.