CG Rescues Passenger on Cruise Ship

By Sentinel Staff

A Coast Guard Air Station Sitka helicopter medevacked a woman Wednesday from a cruise ship 45 miles southeast of Sitka.

The Coast Guard in Juneau received a call from the Celebrity cruise ship Millennium at 8 a.m. reporting a 55-year-old passenger was having chest pains. The Coast Guard helicopter reached the Millennium, which was en route from Skagway to Seattle, at 10 a.m. in Chatham Strait.

A basket was lowered to the ship’s deck and the patient was hoisted into the helicopter for the flight to Sitka, the Coast Guard said.

On scene conditions were air temperature 54 degrees, winds 10 mph and visibility about 10 miles.

“Good communication with the cruise ship and the MH-60 Jayhawk (helicopter) aircrew, ensured proper coordination for the medevac,” Petty Officer 1st Class Jared Buchmiller, the Coast Guard watchstander in Juneau, said in a news release.