NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is searching for a fisherman reported missing, Tuesday, offshore Southwest Pass in East Bay.
Missing is Mark Hansel.
At approximately12:30 p.m., Tuesday, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a call via VHF-FM radio from the Captain of the fishing vessel, Ireland, that a crewmember had fallen overboard and was not wearing a life jacket.
Currently searching are:
- A Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-65C Dolphin helicopter and crew;
- A Coast Guard Station Venice 25-foot Response Boat-Small and crew;
- The 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Sturgeon and crew.
“We are saturating a search area 15 miles-by-15 miles wide between South Pass and Southwest Pass,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Kirk Burrell, command duty officer for the Sector New Orleans command center. “We have searched for approximately 16 hours in the East Bay area near the Mississippi River Delta.”
The Coast Guard issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to mariners in the area.
