Saving Seafood

1 dead, 2 missing after shrimp boat sinks off North Carolina coast, Coast Guard says

January 8, 2020 — The Coast Guard rescued two crew members from a shrimp trawler when it went down in the Pamlico Sound on Tuesday, officials said.

One of them was pronounced dead at the hospital, and two others are still missing.

“This is a rough case and as we continue to search, our thoughts are with the families of the mariners,” search and rescue coordinator Matthew Brooks said in a news release.

The Coast Guard received a distress signal Tuesday night and sent rescuers by boat and helicopter from Hatteras Inlet and the Elizabeth City Air station, according to the release.

Two crew members were located by the aircrew and taken to Sentara Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City. One was hypothermic and the other, who required CPR, was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the release.

Read the full story at The Charlotte Observer

U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Four From Grounded Fishing Vessel

December 10, 2019 — On Monday morning, a U.S. Coast Guard aircrew hoisted four fishermen from a grounded commercial fishing boat in Browns Inlet, North Carolina.

Coast Guard Sector North Carolina received a radio distress call at about 0815 hours Monday from a crewmember aboard the fishing vessel Sea Angels. The crewmember reported that they had run aground due to mechanical issues and that the four people on board needed assistance.

A boat crew aboard a response boat from Station Emerald Isle and an aircrew aboard an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Station Elizabeth City launched to assist. Once on scene, the aircrew hoisted the four crew members and transported them to Coast Guard Station Emerald Isle.

Read the full story at The Maritime Executive

5 rescued off Cape Charles after fishing boat sinks

September 12, 2017 — A Coast Guard helicopter rescued five people off Cape Charles in Northampton County after their fishing vessel took on water in severe weather Monday and sank.

The Coast Guard said in a news release two of the crew members of the fishing vessel, Langley Douglas, were in a life raft while three others were holding on to a piece of wreckage after the boat sank about 60 miles east of Cape Charles on Monday, Sept. 11.

It said a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew already in the area was diverted to the scene after watchstanders in the 5th District Command Center in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, received an emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert from Langley Douglas.

Read and watch the full story at the Salisbury Daily Times

Coast Guard rescues 80-year-old man off Hatteras Island

December 19, 2016 — WILMINGTON, N.C. — An 80-year-old man was rescued by the Coast Guard Sunday morning after his skiff went adrift about eight miles northeast of Hatteras Island.

The Coast Guard was first notified about the man around 5 p.m. Saturday by Dare County 911 dispatchers who reported that the man had not returned to his family as expected after heading out on the water around 8 a.m.

Officials in Coast Guard Sector North Carolina Command Center in Wilmington immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast and began coordinating search crews.

A Coast Guard MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City launched at 5:42 p.m., and a Coast Guard 24-foot Special Purpose Craft-Shallow Water crew from Station Hatteras Inlet launched at about 5:28 p.m., according to the Coast Guard.

Both crews were on scene searching in Pamlico Sound by about 6:23 p.m., joining Hatteras Island Rescue crews and Hatteras Island Fire crews.

Crews searched through the night and were joined by others Sunday at first light. Searching Sunday were SPC-SW crews from Coast Guard Stations Oregon Inlet and Hatteras Inlet, as well as an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Elizabeth City.

Eventually, the man was found adrift in his 18-foot skiff about eight miles northeast of Hatteras Island around 8:25 a.m., unconscious but breathing, by a Hatteras Island Rescue skiff crew. The crew brought him to Avon Harbor where Dare County EMS met them and took the man to Avon Medical Center.

The man was then taken by helicopter from Avon to Sentara Norfolk general Hospital, arriving just after 10 a.m.

Read the full story at ABC 13