About Azul Marine Group

Who We Are

A community of marine professionals

Azul Marine Group (AMG) is made up of people who work on and around the water: search and rescue personnel, divers, salvage specialists, marine firefighters, marine engineers, and licensed captains. The organization exists so that this experience can be offered, in an organized way, to the public agencies responsible for emergencies on the Delta and to the communities that live along it.

Our Mission

The Azul Marine Group brings together a community of marine professionals from various disciplines, including Search and Rescue, Diving, Salvage, Marine Firefighting, Marine Engineering, and Licensed Captains, to support maritime emergencies and promote marine safety and education.

We are dedicated to collaborating with local, regional, state, and federal agencies, providing assistance during maritime emergencies and delivering specialized training in areas such as boating safety, rescue operations, marine engineering, and environmental conservation.

Our goal is to protect and enhance the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Mokelumne Rivers' ecosystems while promoting sustainability through research, water quality testing, and levee integrity inspections. We strive to support our communities through expert advice, vessel support, and training programs that safeguard lives, property, and the environment.

How we work with agencies

Assistance is provided at the request of, and through mutual aid agreements in coordination with, the agency that has responsibility for an incident. Between incidents, the organization's focus is training, education, and stewardship work that makes the next response better.

• Assistance on request. Local, regional, state, and federal agencies can request support during maritime emergencies.
• Training and exercises. Members train in boating safety, rescue operations, marine engineering, and environmental conservation, and take part in joint exercises with partners.
• Stewardship. Research, water quality testing, and levee integrity inspections on the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Mokelumne Rivers.

Who we serve

• Public agencies at the local, regional, state, and federal level.
• Emergency responders working maritime incidents who need specialized marine disciplines alongside them.
• Delta communities, including residents, boaters, and businesses, through boating safety education and a safer waterway.
• River ecosystems of the Sacramento, San Joaquin, and Mokelumne Rivers.

Our story

In December 2017, a vehicle left Highway 12 near the Tower Park bridge and entered the river from a levee, claiming three lives. For retired firefighter and marine captain John Garza, working his first day in the Rio Vista and Delta area, the tragedy showed a hard truth about the Delta: land-based responders can reach the water's edge quickly, but the rescue itself often lies well beyond it.

That call helped inspire Garza and the captains and rescue swimmers of Pacific Coast Water Rescue to expand open-water rescue capability throughout the region, training and certifying more than 150 firefighters since 2017 and helping agencies obtain rescue vessels suited to the Delta. That work connected them with J&H Marine in Stockton, and years of placing rescue boats and working with agencies showed the need for a larger platform that could support emergency response and training.

When the City of Oakland looked to dispose of its former fireboat Sea Wolf, the group began the inquiries that would take nearly two years. In 2025 they established Azul Marine Group as a California nonprofit and applied for federal 501(c)(3) status, which was granted. The Oakland City Council approved the sale on May 5, 2026, the purchase was completed in July, and on July 27 the crew brought Sea Wolf through the Oakland Estuary, escorted by local fireboats, and on to her new home in Stockton.

Source: "Sea Wolf's Second Watch," Bay & Delta Yachtsman, October 2026.

Our Team

The officers, captains, divers, and engineers of Azul Marine Group.