The following is the text of a press release issued by the U.S. Coast Guard:
(BALTIMORE, Md.) — The Coast Guard along with a fire department boat crew, Baltimore County Police Department and Deckelman’s Towing rescued seven people from a boat in the Middle River near Essex, Md., Sunday.
Maryland Natural Resources Police contacted Coast Guard Station Stillpond, Md., via marine-band radio at approximately 5:20 p.m., reporting that Robert Malcolm, 46, of Baltimore, Md., was aboard a 19-foot pleasure craft with seven people aboard taking on water.
A 25-foot response boat crew from Coast Guard Station Stillpond arrived on scene at approximately 5:30 p.m., along with boat crews from a local fire department and Baltimore County Police Department. The fire department boat crew removed six passengers and the police boat crew removed Malcolm, the owner and operator of the 19-foot boat. The Coast Guard boat crew boarded the boat and began dewatering the vessel. A Deckleman’s Towing boat crew arrived on scene shortly after and towed the boat back to the Deckelman’s facility in Essex.
“After receiving notification from NRP, we were able to cooperatively assist the vessel in distress,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Michael J. Hawrylak, a coxswain at Station Stillpond. “The other agencies removed the passengers while we began to dewater the boat.”
There were no reports of injuries.
The Coast Guard urges mariners to outfit their boat with a functioning marine-band radio. Using channel 16 on a marine-band radio is the most reliable way to communicate a distress to search and rescue personnel in the event of an emergency while on the water.
