MIAMI — Coast Guard crews are responding to a vessel explosion 26 miles east of Bimini, Bahamas, Tuesday.
Search-and-rescue coordinators at the Coast Guard Seventh District command center in Miami received a report at approximately 4 p.m. from the Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos operations center (OPBAT) from a good Samaritan that a 35-foot fishing vessel burst into flames and exploded. The good Samaritan arrived on scene and located a debris field but did not find any one in the water.
A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew deployed to the Atlantic Undersea Test and Evaluation Center (AUTEC), launched and is assisting in the search of the debris field.