Coast Guard crew suspends search for missing Rhode Island fisherman

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The Coast Guard ended its search today for Philip Ruhle, 58, a fisherman who went missing when his 80-foot fishing boat capsized and sank 45-miles east of Atlantic City, N.J., Wednesday.

The search was suspended at sunset today.

Coast Guard crews conducted eight sorties, searching for approximately 32.7 hours, totaling 3,173 overlapping square nautical miles, larger than the state of Delaware.

Without any signs of Ruhle or the sunken 80-foot fishing boat, the Coast Guard has suspended its search pending further information.

The Coast Guard received a distress signal at approximately 10 p.m. Wednesday from an electronic position indicating radio beacon, an emergency device used to signal distress, from the fishing boat Sea Breeze with three people aboard.

The Coast Guard search consisted of crews from the following units:

* Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J.
* Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
* Coast Guard Cutter Beluga, a 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Norfolk Va.
* Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod, Mass.

The cause of the incident is currently under investigation by personnel from Coast Guard Sector Delaware Bay in Philadelphia.

The Coast Guard wants all mariners to know that beginning Feb. 1, 2009, only distress alerts from 406 MHz beacons will continue to be detected and processed by search and rescue satellites worldwide. Older model Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons or Emergency Locator Transmitters that only transmit a distress alert on 121.5 MHz or 243 MHz will not be instantly sent to search and rescue personnel. The only way these signals might be heard is by a passive radio listener tuned in to the 121.5/243 MHz frequencies.

Coast Guard rescues 2 fisherman, 1 remains missing near Atlantic City, N.J.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The Coast Guard rescued two fisherman and one remains missing today after the 80-foot fishing boat they were on capsized and sank 45 miles east of Atlantic City, N.J.

Missing is Philip Ruhle, 58.

Rescued were Rayford Carr, 50, and Anthony Hendrickson, 22.

The Coast Guard received a signal from an electronic position indicating radio beacon, an emergency device used to signal distress, at approximately 10 p.m. Wednesday from the fishing boat Sea Breeze, homeported in North Kingstown, R.I., with three people aboard.

Two helicopter rescue crews from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J., arrived on scene and hoisted two of the fisherman from the water as the boat sank.

It was reported the captain was still aboard the boat when it sank.

The fishing vessel was reportedly carrying 100,000 pounds of fish aboard and was riding low in the water before it capsized.

The Coast Guard continues to search today for the missing captain, including rescue crews from:

* Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City, N.J.
* Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.
* Coast Guard Cutter Beluga, a 87-foot patrol boat homeported in Norfolk, Va.

The cause of the incident is under investigation.

The Coast Guard wants all mariners to know that beginning Feb. 1, 2009, only distress alerts from 406 MHz beacons will continue to be detected and processed by search and rescue satellites worldwide. Older model Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacons or Emergency Locator Transmitters that only transmit a distress alert on 121.5 MHz or 243 MHz will not be instantly sent to search and rescue personnel. The only way these signals might be heard is by a passive radio listener tuned in to the 121.5/243 MHz frequencies.