Coast Guard medevacs oil tanker captain off Alabama

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has performed an evacuation via helicopter of a 69-year-old captain from an oil tanker, owned by ASC Leasing IX Inc. and operated by OSG Ship Management, 218 miles offshore Alabama.

The incident occurred on Wednesday and the Coast Guard Sector Mobile watchstanders received a call at 12:17 p.m. via VHF-FM channel 16 from the crew aboard the Overseas Anacortes oil tanker, stating their captain was experiencing heart attack-like symptoms. 

Following the request, the watchstanders consulted with the duty flight surgeon who recommended the captain receive higher-level medical care within 8 to 10 hours. In line with this, a Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was launched to assist. 

After the helicopter crew arrived on the scene and hoisted the captain, they transferred him to University Medical Center New Orleans. According to the Coast Guard, the captain was last reported to be in stable condition. 

The 2010-built Overseas Anacortes oil tanker was constructed at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard, a U.S. commercial shipyard, and delivered to American Shipping Company (AMSC) as its tenth Veteran Class MT-46 product tanker. The 46,000 dwt vessel is currently under a charter agreement, which is slated to expire in December 2026.

The U.S. Coast Guard’s assistance was required multiple times in the oil and gas sector over the past few months and to illustrate the frequency of medevacs, Offshore Energy has selected a few examples when the USCG’s services were used during March 2023. One of the recent cases entailed an evacuation via helicopter of a crew member from one of Allseas’ vessels located approximately 15 miles offshore Port Fourchon, Louisiana.

Prior to this, a 28-year-old male worker was medevaced from a BP-operated platform located approximately 130 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana. Additionally, a 37-year-old male worker was medevaced from an undisclosed oil platform located approximately 40 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.