A landing vessel that suffered a hole in its hull in the Gulf of Alaska was on its way to Homer on Wednesday evening after getting help from the Coast Guard and its sister ship, the Coast Guard said Wednesday.
The captain of the Daniel D. Takak, a 70-foot landing vessel, reported that it was taking on water around 100 miles south of Cordova in the Gulf of Alaska early Wednesday, according to the Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard sent a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter in Cordova for the summer fishing season and a Kodiak-based HC-130 Hercules airplane. When they arrived at 6:30 a.m., a rescue swimmer jumped to deliver pumps to the three-person crew onboard the Takak, which was quickly filling with water.
"They were up to their hips at that point," said Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg.
According to Klingenberg, the crew of the Egavik, another landing craft vessel nearby, helped the Takak crew patch the hole enough for the crew to get under way to Homer, escorted by the Egavik.
The Norton Sound Economic Development Corporation owns the Daniel D. Takak as well as the Egavik, said the organization's communication director Tyler Rhodes.
The vessel was on its way from Washington state to Homer, where it was scheduled to stopover on the way back to the Norton Sound region where it will work as a tender for fisheries.
The hole in the hull may have been caused by a crack in a weld, Rhodes said.
"The work done to make it into a tender vessel involves quite a bit of welding," Rhodes said.
Both the Daniel D. Tatak and the Egavik are expected to reach Homer early Thursday morning. Everyone onboard is safe, Rhodes said.
Landing vessels are able to approach shoreline directly, said Klingenberg, and are mostly used for loading and unloading cargo.
Reach Michelle Theriault Boots at mtheriault@adn.com or 257-4344.
By MICHELLE THERIAULT BOOTS
Anchorage Daily News