CG to award La. duo with safety award

MORGAN CITY, La. ­­- Rear Adm. Paul Thomas, commander of the Eighth Coast Guard District headquarters in New Orleans, is scheduled to present Louisiana natives and businessmen Andy Bui and Paul Tran, with the CG’s Meritorious Public Service award on March 19 at the LSU Agriculture Center’s offices in Abbeville, La. The owners of Vermillion Gulf Seafood of Abbeville, Bui and Tran, will be presented the award for their assistance in the rescue of four commercial fishermen from the partially sunk fishing vessel Capt M&M in Sabine Pass on Sept. 18, 2018. The duo required all vessels moored at their facility to pass a Coast Guard safety exam; and helped vessel operators with the registration of their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons (EPIRB), and placed themselves as emergency contacts that provided a secondary benefit of allowing them to translate English and Vietnamese between the vessel owners and the CG. Their efforts were initially rewarded when the captain of the commercial fishing vessel Capt M&M that struck jetties at Sabine Pass two miles from shore was able to deploy EPIRB before the vessel partially sunk. The crewmembers entered the water and huddled around the emergency beacon that alerted the CG of their position. The CG directed the Jefferson (Parish) Sheriff’s Department to the vessel’s position, and were rescued. By assisting all vessels with the registration of EPIRBs, Bui and Tran directly contributed to the safe recovery of four commercial fishermen. (Coast Guard 03/18/19)