USNI News
Top Stories 2020: International Naval Operations
December 30, 2020 12:03 PM
Motor Tanker (M/T) Wila, a merchant vessel in international waters en-route to the UAE port of Khor Fakkan, in the Gulf of Oman, was boarded by armed Iranian personnel who fast roped aboard the ship from an Iranian Sea King helicopter as it hovered above on Aug. 12, 2020. US Navy Photo
This post is part of a series of stories looking back at the
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Like the U.S., international navies grappled with not only the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic but regional security concerns from China’s naval expansion and operations in the Pacific to Iranian and Russian operations in the Middle East.
Paul Clarke, Gleaner Writer
Attorneys representing four Jamaican men detained by the United States Coast Guard on allegation of drug possession and who had their vessel destroyed are slamming the Government. Lead attorney Bert Samuels, speaking at a virtual press conference today, raised concerns about the circumstances which led to the detention of boat captain Anthony Clarke, Radcliffe Simmons, Howard Patterson, and Warren Rowe. On October 11, the Jamaican-registered vessel Lady Lawla was intercepted some 100 miles south of Jamaica by the US Coast Guard. At the time of the interception, Lady Lawla was in international waters, with the closest landmass being Jamaica.
Attorneys question continued detention of Jamaican boat crew in US stabroeknews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from stabroeknews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Coast Guard Searches Newport Harbor Following Distress Call
The United States Coast Guard continued its search today at first light for a possible person in the water in Newport Harbor off the coast of Rhode Island.
The Coast Guard received a garbled distress call around 3:50 p.m. on Monday. Rescue crews from Coast Guard Station Castle Hill, Air Station Cape Cod and the Narragansett Bay Marine Task Force were deployed by the First District Command Center, authorities said.
The Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead searched throughout the night and was joined by a helicopter from Air Station Cape Cod at first light.
Lady Lawla, at sea on October 12.
Samuels, the defence lawyer for David Chin, owner of the carrier vessel, insists that its destruction was an illegal act.
Speaking during a press conference yesterday, he said that the circumstances under which the 92-foot vessel was destroyed breached Jamaica’s Maritime Drug Trafficking (Suppression) Act as well as the Shiprider Agreement between Jamaica and the United States.
“Jamaica must be concerned that within its economic zone in the Caribbean Sea, a boat has been destroyed, literally emptying thousands of gallons of fuel, waste and pollution into the sea, endangering maritime life,” he said.