La. boats collide, 4 sent to OMC

NEW ORLEANS – The Coast Guard responded to a report of four people in the water after two vessels collided near Baptiste Collette Bayou, La., on the morning of Feb. 16. CG Sector New Orleans received a notification at 10:45 a.m. of a vessel collision between a 40-foot commercial deck boat, with eight people aboard, and a 24-foot bay boat, with four people aboard. All four people from the bay boat were ejected into the water. The crew the deck boat threw lifelines/life jackets, and brought them aboard. CG Station Venice sent out a 45-foot response boat/crew that arrived at 11:05 a.m. The CG boat took the four persons from the deck boat and transferred them to Station Venice. They were transported to Ochsner Medical Center in Terrytown, La. The bay boat was half sunk in Baptiste Collete Bayou outside the channel awaiting salvage. The conditions of the four people were not reported by the CG. The cause of the incident is under investigation. (Coast Guard 02/16/19)