HONOLULU -- The Coast Guard terminated the voyage of a commercial fishing vessel for numerous safety violations Wednesday approximately two miles south of Honolulu Harbor.

Crewmembers aboard the Coast Guard cutter Galveston Island, a 110-foot patrol boat homeported in Honolulu, conducted a boarding of the 58-foot fishing vessel Crystal II and terminated its voyage for failing to meet safety requirements. The fishing vessel had an insufficient number of personal floatation devices for the crewmembers, a disconnected bilge alarm and an improperly mounted life raft.

The cutter's crew escorted the vessel safely into Honolulu Harbor after the boarding. The master of the vessel will need to correct all of the cited violations, and the vessel will need to be inspected by Coast Guard personnel before it can resume its voyage.

The Coast Guard periodically checks vessels for compliance with the Commercial Fishing Vessel Safety Act, which sets safety equipment requirements aboard commercial vessels. By law, vessel operators must ensure their vessels have the required safety equipment aboard; this equipment can help save lives should mariners find themselves in distress while underway.

For more information about Coast Guard patrol boats, please visit www.uscg.mil/datasheet/

For more information, please contact Petty Officer 3rd Class Luke Clayton at 808-535-3230.

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