KODIAK, Alaska — A Coast Guard helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak rescued three people from a life raft and is searching for a missing crewmember from the fishing vessel Advantage after it sank 14 miles southeast of Kodiak Island, Friday.
The search began just after 12 a.m. when watchstanders at the Coast Guard 17th District command center in Juneau received an emergency position indicating radio beacon notification from the fishing vessel.
After several unsuccessful attempts to contact the vessel via radio the watchstanders directed the launch of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak.
Once the helicopter crew arrived on scene they located a life raft with three of the Advantage crewmembers aboard and began hoisting them to safety.
The helicopter then returned to Kodiak and transferred the crewmembers, who were exhibiting symptoms of hypothermia, to local emergency medical services for treatment.
“We are continuing to search for the missing crewman with helicopters from Air Station Kodiak,” Lt. Robert Baysden, a search and rescue controller at the 17th District command center. “Having the EPIRB aboard the fishing vessel was key to alerting us that there was an emergency.”
The weather on scene was reported to be clear skies, two to three-foot seas and a water temperature of about 52 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Advantage is a 58-foot fishing vessel homeported out of Kodiak.
