A second Good Samaritan vessel has arrived to help rescue 46 people who abandoned a fishing boat in Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.
Advertisement
In this Tuesday, July 26, 2016 frame from video provided by the U.S. Coast Guard, crew from a sinking fishing boat, left, board life rafts off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands in the Bering Sea.
Good Samaritans were particularly valuable in Alaska, where the Coast Guard has limited Search and Rescue (SAR) facilities, and many times have been the difference between life and death for sailors and fishermen.
Schlosser says, the ships are expected to arrive at a port in Adak on Wednesday afternoon.
“The crew of the Alaska Juris did the right thing by calling for help, putting on their immersion suits and safely abandoning the ship”, said Lt. Greg Isbell, District 17 command duty officer.
The Coast Guard says a Good Samaritan vessel was on scene, and Petty Officer Kelly Parker said the plan is for all 46 crew members to board the Spar Canis.
No injuries were reported.
“I am just really grateful that the crew successfully evacuated and nobody was hurt”, said Woodley, who now serves as executive director of the Groundfish Forum, a fishing-industry group. Watchstanders also issued an urgent marine information broadcast to vessels in the area, diverting the motor vessels Spar Canis, Vienna Express, Seafisher and Ocean Peace to assist.
Four vessels respond to a distress signal from the sinking Alaska Juris ship more than 600 miles off the coast of Alaska in the Bering Sea.
The cause of the vessel taking on water is under investigation.
On Tuesday, the agency diverted a cutter and dispatched two C-130 transport planes and two helicopters to the sinking ship near Kiska Island, which is about 690 miles (1,110 kilometers) west of Dutch Harbor, one of the nation’s busiest fishing ports. The reason of sinking the vessel Alaska Juris is unclear so far.
Advertisement
The Alaska Juris is owned by Renton, Washington-based Fishing Co. of Alaska, according to the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. Days later, another fisherman was treated for a head injury after a cable snapped again and hit him. Five of the boat’s 47 crew members, including the captain, died.
