Alaska News

Coast Guard rescues 3 fisherman, seeks 4th, after sinking off Kodiak

Three fishermen bobbing in a life raft were rescued Friday morning after the 58-foot fishing vessel Advantage sank 14 miles southeast of Kodiak. A Coast Guard helicopter crew continued searching for a fourth crewman.

The search began just after midnight when the Coast Guard's 17th District command center received a radio beacon notice from the Advantage, which is based in Cordova, that the vessel was in trouble. After failing to contact the vessel, a MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew was launched from the Coast Guard station in Kodaik.

Crewmembers in the life raft were hoisted aboard the helicopter. They were suffering from hypothermia and were received medical treatment once they returned to Kodiak. The weather was reported to be 52 degrees F with three-foot seas.

"We are continuing to search for the missing crewman with helicopters from Air Station Kodiak," said 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 Advantage is a longerliner and crab boat, with Mark Worley listed as the skipper on the IFQ Charters website.

Craig Medred

Craig Medred is a former writer for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch and Alaska Dispatch News. He left the ADN in 2015.

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