Coast Guard assist boat taking on water just across the U.S., Canada border

Coast Guard assist boat taking on water just across the U.S., Canada border

BELLINGHAM, Wash. -- The Coast Guard assisted two boaters whose boat started taking on water in Canadian Waters near Boundary Pass, Saturday afternoon.

Joint Coast Guard and Royal Canadian Mounted Police boat crews aboard two Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Mediums from Stations Bellingham and Port Angeles assisted the boaters and dewatered the vessel before commercial assistance providers towed the boat to Vector Marina in Sidney, British Columbia.

The Coast Guard and RCMP crews were conducting a routine joint patrol as part of the International Cross-Border Maritime Law Enforcement Operations agreement, also known as Shiprider, when the crew of Island Magic, a 50-foot Canadian-registered pleasure craft, signaled the boat crews and reported the boat was taking on water. The joint boat crews crossed into Canadian waters and rendered dewatering assistance until the vessel could be safely towed.

Shiprider members of the United States Coast Guard and the RCMP are specially trained and cross-designated to enforce laws and provide assistance on both sides of the border in shared waterways.

-USCG-