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March 22, 2000
Vol. 30, No. 63
For more information, contact John A. Hughes or Robert Henry, Division
of Soil and Water, 302-739-4411; or Melinda Carl, Information and Education,
302-739-4506
Three Men Rescued by Helicopter as Dredge Takes on Water
In the middle of Tuesday night's torrential rain and high winds, three
crewmen aboard the dredge, Diamond State, were rescued by a U.S. Coast
Guard helicopter between 9 and 10 p.m. while the dredge was taking on
water a quarter mile off Broadkill Beach.
Division of Soil and Water employees William Daisey, Orlando King and
Gerald Wingate had boarded the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental
Control dredge late afternoon yesterday when it was discovered after
periodic checks that the dredge appeared to be taking on water.
King, a dredge operator, and Wingate, an automotive and marine mechanic,
were transported to Broadkill Beach one at a time via a basket lowered
onto the dredge from the helicopter. Daisey, chief of field operations,
was grabbed by a swimmer from the helicopter crew and the two were hoisted
by line to the helicopter after the rescue basket was damaged during
King's and Wingate's evacuations. Daisey was taken to Dover Air Force
Base. Wingate and Daisey were unhurt; King suffered a knee injury, apparently
while onboard the dredge.
"We are extremely grateful to the Coast Guard," said John
Hughes, Director of the Division. "They did a magnificent job of
rescuing our men who were in serious danger."
Higher than predicted winds, which eventually gusted to 67 miles per
hour last evening, surging waves and a broken cable may have contributed
to the dredge taking on water. Between 2:30 and 3 p.m., as the weather
shifted and the winds grew more robust, it became apparent that the
dredge had changed its orientation. The Delaware Bay Launch Service
was contacted at Slaughter Beach and Daisey, King, and Wingate were
transferred by launch boat to the dredge to begin pumping out the water.
The launch boat then traveled to Roosevelt Inlet to pick up additional
pumps and by the time it arrived back at Broadkill, the weather had
worsened to the extent that a decision was made to call the Coast Guard
for assistance to evacuate the men from the dredge.
"The people of Broadkill Beach were extremely helpful and opened
their homes to the rescued men," said Hughes. "We're very
thankful to them."
Damage to the dredge will be evaluated by a salvage company that has
been called in to assess the damage. The dredge had been anchored offshore
at Broadkill Beach where it had been working on a beach replenishment
job last week.
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Document no. 40-01/00/03/31
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