Click here to read Rear Admiral Brice-O’Hara’s statement.
The delayed effort to unravel signals of the calamity that sank a Gloucester fishing boat in January was caused by analysis-paralysis in an inexperienced Coast Guard chain of command while two senior on-duty emergency response officers slept.
A congressional subcommittee reviewed these findings yesterday — and wanted to know why.
Without commenting directly about the flaws in the performance of the service in the sinking of the Patriot, which claimed the lives of two Gloucester fishermen, Rear Adm. Sally Brice-O’Hara, a search and rescue expert, conceded training and orientation of duty officers needed improvement.
The only witness in a two-hour hearing, she also said more staffing would allow a shortening of the 24-hour shifts that found key decision-makers at the Sector and District levels in Boston sleeping — as allowed — while, down the chain, inexperienced officers wrestled with information overload and indecision in the early morning hours of Jan. 3.
Read the complete story at The Gloucester Daily Times.