Caleb Halle, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer, will receive the IMO 2023 Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea for saving seven crew members of a disabled tug in a storm off the coast of Maryland in January.
The annual International Maritime Organization Award is the highest award for bravery in the maritime industry. The IMO received 47 nominations from its 18 member states for the award this year.
Halle’s story starts about 3:30 a.m. last January 14 when the Coast Guard received a call from the tug Legacy that had been towing a 290-foot barge from New Jersey to Guyana. The crew said their 1,000-foot-long towing line had parted and was tangled in the tug’s props. The tug was disabled in a storm and the crew was preparing to abandon ship about 35 nm off Ocean City.
A Coast Guard cutter arrived and made several attempts to rescue the crew, but all failed because of the deteriorating weather. The Coast Guard then sent a helicopter from Atlantic City with Halle, an Aviation Survival Technician Second Class, as the rescue swimmer on board.
When the helicopter reached the tug, Halle was lowered to the aft deck. He helped one person onto the rescue basket to be hoisted to safety, but then had to find another location on the main deck, where he was able to hoist two more.
Meanwhile, the helicopter was running low on fuel and had to return to its base. Halle volunteered to stay on the tug with the four remaining crew. A second helicopter then arrived and Halle helped its rescue swimmer reach the tug, even though they lost communications. At one point a large wave hit the tug and damaged the watertight seal of Halle’s survival suit.
After they hoisted the four crew to safety, Halle searched the tug to make sure no one was left behind. He and the other rescue swimmer then started their own hoist, when a wave caused the tug to pitch violently, throwing them both in the water close to the tug’s props. The helicopter regained its position and picked the two swimmers up from the water just as Halle’s suit flooded.
