Coast Guard lauds tug boat crew

Crew members of a Vancouver-based tug boat received a public service award Thursday from the Coast Guard, recognizing their life-saving role in a Snake River rescue last Sept. 9.

Greg Majeski, captain of the Captain Bob, accepted the award in the Vancouver ceremony. The Captain Bob is part of the fleet of tug and tow boats operated on the Columbia River and its tributaries by Tidewater Transportation and Terminals, headquartered in Vancouver.

The tug’s crew rescued two people who abandoned ship after their boat caught fire on the Snake River near Kennewick.

In a Tidewater news release, Majeski reported leaving Ice Harbor Dam at about 7 p.m. that day when he saw heavy black smoke in the distance. As he got closer, he saw a recreational boat engulfed in flames, and two people in the water near the burning wreckage.

A man and woman described by the crew as being in their 70s had been struggling to reach shore. The Captain Bob’s crew pulled the couple from the water, just as their burning boat slipped beneath the surface of the Snake River. They were given blankets and taken to Ice Harbor Dam, where an ambulance was waiting.

The rescue was witnessed by several Union Pacific Railroad employees who were aboard a train as it rounded the corner on the tracks adjacent to the river.

“Today we recognized the captain and crew of the tug Captain Bob for upholding the mariner’s time-honored tradition of helping those in distress on the water,” Lt. Benjamin Robinson, with Portland’s Marine Safety Unit, said during Thursday’s presentation.