Coast Guard evacuates crew member from freighter on Lake Superior

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The U.S. Coast Guard evacuated a crew member from a freighter on Lake Superior off Michigan’s Upper Peninsula earlier this week after the man became ill.

The 67-year-old man, an engineer aboard the 728-foot freighter Joseph L. Block, was taken from the ship by rescue boat Monday evening, according to a Coast Guard news release.

According to the release, 911 operators in Marquette, Mich., received a call from the Joseph L. Block reporting that the crew member was suffering stomach pains and severe dizziness. The call was relayed to the Coast Guard just before 6 p.m. Central time Monday, when the ship was about 38 miles northeast of Marquette.

After medical personnel determined that the crew member’s condition warranted emergency evacuation, officials determined that a rescue boat from Coast Guard Station Marquette could reach the ship faster than a rescue helicopter from Traverse City, Mich.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium, capable of top speeds in excess of 40 knots, was launched with a Coast Guard crew and a local emergency medical technician, and arrived at the Block within an hour. The EMT treated the crew member on the return trip, and upon arrival in Marquette the man was transferred to a waiting ambulance and taken to Marquette General Hospital. His name and condition were not available.

The Joseph L. Block was en route to Indiana after taking on a load of taconite in Two Harbors.

It’s the third time in two months that the Coast Guard has had to evacuate a crew member from a vessel on Lake Superior.

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