HONOLULU – Coast Guard crews have located the 28-member crew of the disabled fishing vessel Hou Chun 11 early Tuesday morning and are providing medical care to injured crewmembers.
Corpsmen aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley are treating two Hou Chun 11 crewmembers who are reported to have suffered burns. The Alex Haley will transit to Christmas Island, Kiribati, where the two burn victims are scheduled to be medically evacuated.
The Alex Haley arrived on scene at approximately 3 a.m. Tuesday. A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point HC-130 Hercules aircrew remained on scene after the Alex Haley arrived to coordinate the exact position of the life rafts.
Coast Guard and U.S. Navy aircrews remained on scene throughout the night.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center watchstanders received the call here Monday at 7:30 a.m. about a fire aboard the fishing vessel Hou Chun 11 and launched a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules at 10 a.m. to the vessel’s location 900 miles southwest of Honolulu. The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley, homeported in Kodiak, Alaska, and a U.S. Navy P-3 aircrew also responded to the call.
