Coast Guard Suspends Search for Ship Pilot Who Fell Overboard

By Jack Dorsey, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Feb. 6–Coast Guard crews suspended their search Monday for a federal ship pilot from Virginia Beach who fell into the water from a vessel he was boarding.

The incident happened Sunday night about two miles off the coast of Cape Henlopen, Del., at the mouth of the Delaware Bay, the Coast Guard said. Missing is Lynn Deibert, 52, a pilot with the Chesapeake Federal Pilots Association. Deibert’s home of record is reported to be Virginia Beach, the Coast Guard said in a news release.

Search-and-rescue coordinators at the Coast Guard’s field office in Atlantic City, N.J., were told about 11 p.m. Sunday that Deibert had fallen from the ship’s ladder while attempting to board the motor vessel Energy Enterprise, a 645-foot U.S.-flagged freighter bound for Baltimore, the release said.

He was transferring from the pilot vessel Big Stone 5 when he fell into 39-degree water.

The transfer between two ships is a routine procedure, practiced frequently by the pilots, said Petty Officer 1st Class Kyle Niemi, a spokesman for the Coast Guard’s Atlantic City station.

The Coast Guard launched an HH-65C Dolphin rescue helicopter, three rescue boats and a cutter to search the area.

At first light, another helicopter crew was launched, along with a C-130 Hercules long-range aircraft.

In all, Coast Guard crews conducted 13 search sorties over more than 14 hours, the release said.

Deibert was wearing a personal flotation device when he entered the water. Witnesses reportedly threw three life rings in after him.

The Big Stone 5 is en route to Lewes, Del., for further examination at a dock.

Neither ship reported colliding during the close-in maneuver, Niemi said.

The Energy Enterprise continued on to Baltimore and is scheduled to be met by investigators from Coast Guard Sector Baltimore for inspection and crew interviews.

The cause of the accident is under investigation by Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia.

–Reach Jack Dorsey at (757) 446-2284 or jack.dorsey@pilotonline.com.

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Copyright (c) 2007, The Virginian-Pilot, Norfolk, Va.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.

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