PORTLAND, Maine – One body was found, and Coast Guard crews and other local agencies are searching by air and sea tonight for a second person in Cobscook Bay near Eastport, Maine, after reports that a 34-foot fishing vessel from Lubec, Maine, with two people aboard may have gone down.
The identities of the victims and the name of the vessel is being withheld pending notification of next of kin.
At 4:10 p.m., the crew of the fishing vessel Perfect Choice reported by radio to Coast Guard Station Eastport that they observed a debris field in Johnson Harbor that contained a survival suit and what appeared to be a submerged boat.
The submerged boat is a 34-foot blue and white fiberglass dragger and was last seen around 3 p.m., today dragging for sea urchins near Red Island, according to a report from the crew of the fishing vessel Tide Pool.
Coast Guard Sector Northern New England launched a 25-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Eastport and issued an urgent marine information broadcast asking boaters in the area to help with the search.
The Maine Marine Patrol recovered a body near the debris field at 5:15 p.m., about one mile east of Eastport in Johnson Harbor.
A Falcon jet from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod was diverted from a routine patrol in the area and is assisting with the search. A Jayhawk rescue helicopter, also from the air station, is en route as well as the Coast Guard Cutter Moray, an 87-foot patrol boat from Jonesport, Maine.
On scene weather conditions are seas up to two feet, winds around seven miles per hour, visibility around 12 miles and the water temperature is 37 degrees fahrenheit.
“We are coordinating search efforts among several Coast Guard units and with local agencies,” said Lt. Lisa Tinker, the command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England. “Our search patterns are based on drift models surrounding the debris field.”
This is the 92nd search and rescue case this year for Coast Guard Sector Northern New England.
