On Wednesday, the U.S. Coast Guard was forced to rescue a total of 118 people from a grounded casino boat near Tybee Island, Georgia.
Coast Guard members aboard three 25-foot response boats and one 45-foot response boat from Station Tybee Island worked together to ferry 114 people from the grounded casino boat to the Coast Guard Cutters Maria Bray and Tarpon, which are larger vessels capable of carrying more people than the smaller response boats, and two Coast Guard helicopters hoisted four additional people off the casino ship.
The 200 foot-long casino boat Escapade ran aground Tuesday night on a sand bar off Tybee Island near the port of Savannah, Georgia, reportedly on its maiden voyage.
Apparently the house doesn’t always win.
Casino boat Escapade aground on Wednesday morning. U.S. Coast Guard Photo
Salvage crews have removed roughly 1,000 gallons of residual fuel from the grounded barge Defiant near the entrance to San Juan Harbor, significantly reducing environmental risk as officials prepare a plan to refloat the 265-foot vessel. The port remains open, and no pollution or injuries have been reported.
A fuel barge ran aground near the entrance to San Juan Harbor on Monday while being towed inbound from St. Thomas, prompting a Coast Guard response near Old San Juan’s historic El Morro fortress. Officials say there were no injuries, no pollution reported, and the port remains open to vessel traffic.
Coast Guard and CBP arrested a stowaway smuggler and seized 789 pounds of cocaine worth over $5 million after a crew aboard the tug Signet Thunder discovered the suspect on a barge in San Juan Harbor during a predawn operation January 28.
February 9, 2026
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