The following is text of a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard:
(PORT ANGELES, Wash.) — A Coast Guard air crew medically evacuated an injured Russian crewmember off a motor vessel transiting 45 miles off the Washington coast on Tuesday afternoon.
An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter air crew from Sector Field Office/Air Station Port Angeles safely hoisted the 46-year-old man and flew him to awaiting emergency medical services, which transported him to Olympic Medical Center for further care.
Watch standers at the Coast Guard 13th District Command Center in Seattle received the initial call for support at 1:45 p.m., and after arranging for language translation, received the medical request from the operators of the motor vessel Olympic Hope, a Marshall Islands-flagged bulk carrier. The Coast Guard air crew launched at 3:48 p.m. and was on scene at 4:20. The injured man, with a reported separated shoulder, was hoisted at 4:39 p.m.
The man’s condition is unknown at this time. The vessel continued its transit toward Nakhodka, Russia, its next scheduled port of call.
