Coast Guard Juxtaposition of Veterans Day and F/V Mistress

The striking juxtaposition of the Coast Guard's Veterans Day commemorations and the harsh realities of the F/V Mistress rescue.
.
The Coast Guard's refusal to reopen the F/V Mistress investigation highlights a deep contradiction between officially honoring maritime and military service and failing to act on the Coast Guard's own legal mandates. Around Veterans Day, critics and maritime safety advocates cite USCG Document ECF No. 14-7 to argue that the federal government prioritized offshore wind interests over the lives of fishermen, human remains, and accountability protocols.
.
The primary controversy stems from the stark contradiction between the Coast Guard’s official assessments on the safety of offshore wind arrays and the real-world operational failure that occurred when the Mistress sank on January 1, 2019 
.
The key issues revealed by this connection include violating the Coast Guard's own reopening clause. In a 2020 Coast Guard Investigation Report (introduced as ECF No. 14-7 in federal court), the agency explicitly stated it closed the case with the understanding that it would be reopened pending receipt of information sufficient to determine the disappearance. 
.
In late 2026, the non-profit organization Green Oceans provided the exact information required by locating the physical wreckage and apparent human remains 92 feet underwater at the base of Turbine 1 at the Block Island Wind Farm. Despite providing the exact "sufficient information" required by the clause, officials have claimed there is no need to reopen the case. 
.
Advocacy groups argue that the refusal to reopen the case—even around a holiday meant to honor service and sacrifice—is a political maneuver to suppress findings that offshore wind turbines create hazardous radar clutter and actively hinder search and rescue operations. 
.
Critics note the hypocrisy of celebrating the Coast Guard's service on Veterans Day while the agency resists retrieving apparent human remains of American mariners located directly next to a heavily monitored wind turbine. 
.
The F/V Mistress sits in 92 feet of water and only 50 feet from Turbine 1 of the Block Island Wind Farm. The original 2019 rescue attempt was aborted in 37 minutes; close proximity to the massive wind turbines created severe radar hazards for Coast Guard helicopters.
 .
The recovery of human remains for forensic purposes falls under the jurisdiction of medical examiners and state law enforcement rather than federal maritime authorities. For example, the Rhode Island State Police noted that they possess the capability to assist with underwater recovery of the remains from the Mistress if a formal request is coordinated, as state agencies handle localized criminal and forensic investigations.
.
The Coast Guard continues to procrastinate; all they have to do is request the RI state police to search.  By dragging its feet, the Coast Guard avoids a forensic review that could disrupt billions of dollars in offshore wind development, even as the families of the lost fishermen wait for basic DNA verification of the remains, 

.

.

Views: 4

Comment

You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!

Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine

U.S. Sen Angus King

THE UNTOLD STORY OF RECORD HILL WIND

The Untold Story of Record Hill Wind, continued

 

Maine as Third World Country:

CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power

 

Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.

Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********

(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

Not yet a member?

Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?

We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.

“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”

 -- Mahatma Gandhi

"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi 

Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!

Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

© 2026   Created by Webmaster.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

Sign in to chat!