Regardless of what’s going on, the proud crews of our U.S. Coast Guard are diligently working to ensure the safety of life at sea.
With the commercial Dungeness crab season in full swing and the weather getting rough, we’ve responded to two commercial fishing vessel crews in distress in just the last 24 hours.
On Wednesday night, with the commercial Dungeness crab season in full swing and the weather getting rough, crews from the U.S. Coast Guard Sector North Bend and U.S. Coast Guard Station Yaquina Bay aided the three people aboard. The vessel had lost propulsion with no catch aboard two miles off the Yaquina Bay. The vessel was put in tow and safely moored in Newport, Ore.
Further up north members, U.S. Coast Guard Sector Columbia River and U.S. Coast Guard Station Cape Disappointment responded to another fishing crew in distress call that initial call came in shortly after 6:30 pm.
With five people aboard, the crew of the 78’ fishing vessel Lisa Marie had lost their rudder 17 miles off the Columbia River entrance. The Lisa Marie was adrift 17 miles offshore, in 12-14’ and occasional 16’ seas and 40-knot winds.
Due to the high risk involved in towing the vessel through the estimated 14 seas at the Columbia River Bar, the Cape Disappointment crew launched aboard the 52-foot Motor Life Boat Triumph II. Rough conditions combined with the threat of crab pot entanglements and the tow bridle parting once while in transit made for a slow pace.
Once they’d crossed the bar, two additional Cape Disappointment boat crews joined in, one 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew took over the tow while a second swapped out those aboard the 52-foot Motor Life Boat.
Rough conditions combined with the threat of crab pot entanglements and the tow bridle parting once while in transit made for a slow pace until the vessel was safely moored at the Astoria fuel pier after 2:30 p.m. Thursday afternoon. Great work to all three crews involved battling long hours (19.4 hours total!) in harsh conditions!
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