CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas – Coast Guard rescue crews assisted seven people aboard a pleasure craft after contact was made between their boat and a shrimp boat’s trawling gear, which caused the boat to begin taking on water about 30 miles off the coast of South Padre Island, Tuesday morning.
A woman contacted watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi at 9:30 a.m. reporting the 42-foot boat her husband was aboard was taking on water. They reported that the pleasure craft and the shrimping gear of the shrimp boat Maria Cruz made contact.
The crew aboard a Coast Guard search and rescue boat located the pleasure craft and passed a dewatering pump to them at 12:35 p.m. The people on the pleasure craft were able to stop the leaking and pump out the water. The rescue crew stayed with the pleasure craft until the Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack arrived on scene to begin towing them at 4:34 p.m.
The Amberjack towed the disabled vessel to Port Isabel.
“Upon receiving the initial distress call, Coast Guard Station South Padre Island coordinated an experienced boat crew to immediately dispatch with a dewatering pump,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class William Brewer, a boat crew member at Station South Padre Island. “After they arrived on scene, they began to assess the situation and respond as needed to assist the disabled vessel.”
There were no reported injuries and the Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the incident.
Sector Corpus Christi watchstanders utilized multiple assets from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi and Station South Padre Island to assist the people, including:
• An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter
• An HU-25 Falcon jet
• A 33-foot Special Purpose Craft-Law Enforcement
• A 41-foot Utility Boat
• The Coast Guard Cutter Amberjack.
