LOSS OF NUMEROUS VESSELS DURING HEAVY WEATHER IN THE VICINITY OF CHETCO RIVER, OREGON, ON OR ABOUT 16 AUGUST 1972 WITH LOSS OF LIFE. MARINE CASUALTY REPORT

On August 16, 1972, approximately 69 small boats operating off the coast of northern California and southern Oregon suddenly encountered high winds and rough seas. Although the U.S. Coast Guard, assisted by numerous private vessels, conducted extensive rescue operations, 13 persons are missing or dead. More than $132,000 worth of damage was incurred by the small boats. The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of the loss of life and damage to the small boats at sea was: (1) The fact that the National Weather Service (NWS) and the U.S. Coast Guard did not provide timely information about the approaching storm to various small boats, and (2) the inadequate communications between small boats in distress and Coast Guard rescue units. Contributing to the inadequate communications was the inability of the Coast Guard to monitor requests for assistance that were transmitted on Citizens Band frequencies.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • Includes Marine Safety Recommendations M-74-32 thru M-74-36.
• Corporate Authors:

  National Transportation Safety Board

  800 Independence Avenue, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20594

  United States Coast Guard

  2100 Second Street, SW
  Washington, DC  United States  20593
• Publication Date: 1974-10-24

Media Info

• Pagination: 45 p.

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Casualties; Communication systems; Crash investigation; Distress alerting systems; Fatalities; Radio; Storms; Warning signals; Water transportation crashes; Weather forecasting
• Old TRIS Terms: Casualty data; Ship casualties; Storm warnings
• Subject Areas: Marine Transportation; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00080195
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: National Technical Information Service
• Report/Paper Numbers: USCG-NTSB-MAR-74-7
• Files: NTIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 29 1978 12:00AM