Boating Deaths Decline
From Soundings Trade Only Publication
The Coast Guard released its 2012 Recreational Boating Statistics on Monday, revealing that boating fatalities last year totaled 651, the lowest number of boating fatalities on record.
There were 651 boating deaths last year, a decline of 14.1 percent from 758 in 2011, and there were 3,000 injuries, down 2.6 percent from 3,081 the previous year. The total number of reported recreational boating accidents dropped to 4,515, a decline of 1.6 percent from 4,588 in 2011.
The fatality rate for 2012 of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels reflected a 12.9 percent decrease from the previous year's rate of 6.2 deaths. Property damage totaled about $38 million.
"We're very pleased that casualties are lower and thank our partners for their hard work over the past year," Capt. Paul Thomas, director of inspections and compliance at Coast Guard headquarters, said in a statement. "We will continue to stress the importance of life jacket wear, boating education courses and sober boating."
A survivor from a recent Coast Guard search and rescue made a point of visiting Air Station Clearwater, Fla., on Thursday to personally thank the crew that assisted in his rescue.
Jordan Hanssen, 29, was rescued April 6 by Coast Guard crews and two good Samaritan vessels — the 800-foot Panamanian flag automobile carrier Heijin and the 600-foot Russian flag chemical-tank ship Tanais Leader.
Hanssen and three others were attempting to row a 29-foot boat from Dakar, Senegal, to Miami. They work for the Canadian Wildlife Foundation and were on the 73rd day of an estimated 100-day voyage that ended abruptly when a series of waves capsized the vessel and the crew was forced to abandon the boat for a life raft about 380 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico.
The Coast Guard released its 2012 Recreational Boating Statistics on Monday, revealing that boating fatalities last year totaled 651, the lowest number of boating fatalities on record.
There were 651 boating deaths last year, a decline of 14.1 percent from 758 in 2011, and there were 3,000 injuries, down 2.6 percent from 3,081 the previous year. The total number of reported recreational boating accidents dropped to 4,515, a decline of 1.6 percent from 4,588 in 2011.
The fatality rate for 2012 of 5.4 deaths per 100,000 registered recreational vessels reflected a 12.9 percent decrease from the previous year's rate of 6.2 deaths. Property damage totaled about $38 million.
"We're very pleased that casualties are lower and thank our partners for their hard work over the past year," Capt. Paul Thomas, director of inspections and compliance at Coast Guard headquarters, said in a statement. "We will continue to stress the importance of life jacket wear, boating education courses and sober boating."
A survivor from a recent Coast Guard search and rescue made a point of visiting Air Station Clearwater, Fla., on Thursday to personally thank the crew that assisted in his rescue.
Jordan Hanssen, 29, was rescued April 6 by Coast Guard crews and two good Samaritan vessels — the 800-foot Panamanian flag automobile carrier Heijin and the 600-foot Russian flag chemical-tank ship Tanais Leader.
Hanssen and three others were attempting to row a 29-foot boat from Dakar, Senegal, to Miami. They work for the Canadian Wildlife Foundation and were on the 73rd day of an estimated 100-day voyage that ended abruptly when a series of waves capsized the vessel and the crew was forced to abandon the boat for a life raft about 380 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico.
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