March 5, 2009

Mayday call off St. George Island, Coast Guard rescues 5

From a US Coast Guard press release:

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter crew safely hoisted five crewmen from the commercial fishing vessel Mar-Gun at 7:53 a.m. after the master reported the vessel aground half a mile from St. George Island, Alaska, Thursday.

Coast Guard Communication Station Kodiak received the mayday call from the Mar-Gun at 4:11 a.m. and launched a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from St. Paul, Alaska, to the vessel's location at 4:32 a.m.

The Mar-Gun, a 112-foot stern trawler homeported in Seattle was fishing for pollock when the incident occurred.

Tim Propst, Dan Hankins, Richard Post, Dan Stanfield and Paul Gore were safely hoisted and are being taken to St. Paul Medical Clinic. There have been no injuries reported.

Weather on scene was reported as sustained winds of 45 mph with gusts to 57 mph and seas five to six feet.

The cause of the incident is not known at this time and is being investigated by the Captain of the Port for Western Alaska.