Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District

  United States Coast Guard
News Release

Date: Sept. 3, 2009
Contact: Petty Officer 3rd Class Walter Shinn 
Phone: (907) 463-2068
 (907) 321-4513

Coast Guard coordinates rescue of cruise ship crewmember in Arctic Ocean

Photo courtesy of Cindy Shults

Photo courtesy of Cindy Shults

JUNEAU, Alaska - The Coast Guard Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau is coordinating a rescue with Alaska Clean Seas and British Petroleum for the transfer of a 27 year-old German woman suffering from a possible appendicitis aboard the cruise ship Bremen about 30 miles west of Prudhoe Bay Thursday.

The cruise ship has altered its voyage and is heading toward Prudhoe Bay were the 42-foot vessel owned by ACS will meet just offshore. Two medical personnel from the BP medical clinic will be aboard the vessel to provide immediate medical care to the woman if needed.

Alaska Clean Seas personnel are expected to bring the women into Prudhoe Bay and take her to the BP Industrial Clinic to assess the situation and make recommendations for possible future treatment.

"The remote regions of Alaska always offer difficult challenges and the Arctic Ocean is no different," said Capt. Michael D. Inman, chief of response for the Coast Guard’s 17th District. "The coordination efforts of Coast Guard rescue controllers and the actions of ACS and BP have helped assist this person in need."

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