St. Christopher of Cayman

It was a cold and dreary day, but my partner and I were too busy to let it bother us. We were eagerly loading our bounty off the ST. CHRISTOPHER. In the background we could hear loud thunder approaching which would surely bring foul weather. Then without warning, our worst nightmare began to unfold before us. The loud thunderous roar was not created from Mother Nature. Out of nowhere blazing just inches overhead was a Coast Guard Falcon.

On 21January 1999, Mr. Bryan Leveritt visited MSO Mobile to discuss the impending salvage operations for the grounded vessel, the ST. CHRISTOPHER OF CAYMAN.  This vessel grounded in the marshes of Pascagoula, Mississippi as a result of the ferocious winds of Hurricane Georges.  The ST. CHRISTOPHER is a 140' pleasure yacht schooner, which was mainly used as a small freighter in the North Sea.  It was built in Delfzijl, Netherlands in 1932.   Mr. Leveritt requested Coast Guard assistance and expertise in the removal of the fuel prior to the salvage of this vessel.  I informed Mr. Leveritt that our office would conduct an aerial survey of the vessel and area to assess structural condition and any pollution threats.

On 25 January 1999, CG2136 with crewmembers LCDR C. Alexander, LT J. Blow, AVT2 M. Eckert, AMT2 C. Ritchie, AMT3 C. Sharpe and myself, MSO representative MST3 R. Cooper were on a routine Marine Environmental Protection overflight which included the aerial survey of the ST. CHRISTOPHER OF CAYMAN.  We began the initial survey with many low flying passes to assess the condition of the St. Christopher and the surrounding area, which was approximately 100 yards from the shoreline aground in a marsh.  After the first pass we noticed a small white recreational boat, the only one in the area, just off the bank near the vessel.  During the next pass we noted two individuals, one by the ST. CHRISTOPHER and the other near the small recreational boat. On subsequent passes we determined that the men were removing objects from the vessel. One man was placing items on a makeshift sled while the other was on the recreational boat trying to pull the sled through the marsh.

At this point LT Blow asked if the owner was preparing for the salvage operation.  Currently, the MSO was unaware of any salvage operations and I had strong suspicion these men were looting the vessel of its prized possessions.  The aircraft commander quickly had the avionics technician contact CG Station Pascagoula, which was just south of the ST. CHRISTOPHER’S position.  The Station reacted quickly by diverting a RHI to the scene.  At this time both men boarded their boat and began to head north at a reckless and accelerated speed. There was a concern the Station would be unable to catch the recreational boat since they were approximately 2 miles south of the ST. CHRISTOPHER.  Fortunately, a Mississippi State Fish & Wildlife vessel, call sign FW709, overheard the radio transmission to Station Pascagoula and intercepted the fleeing suspects approximately one mile north of the ST. CHRISTOPHER.  He began to escort them back to Station Pascagoula. The Fish & Wildlife officer reported that the boat did indeed have various items onboard from the ST. CHRISTOPHER worth approximately seven hundred to one thousand dollars. We remained on scene until the Station Pascagoula RHI arrived to relieve us.

Immediately following the incident, I informed Mr. Leveritt of the looting and the Coast Guard efforts. He graciously offered his appreciation and stated that over forty thousand dollars worth of damage and theft have been recorded since her grounding during the hurricane.  These two individuals are currently under investigation to determine the extent of their participation in the looting of this vessel.