Sunday, March 15, 2015

1 DEAD, 3 RESCUED AFTER THE "SEA BEAR" TUGBOAT SINKS OFF FIRE ISLAND, NEW YORK





MARCH 14, 2015

FIRE ISLAND, NEW YORK

One man died when a tugboat sank off the coast of Fire Island on Saturday, said the Coast Guard, which rescued three other members of the ship’s crew from frigid ocean waters one mile offshore.

The boat was returning to its home port in New York after doing some work near Shinnecock Bay in Suffolk County on the eastern tip of Long Island, said Petty Officer Sabrina Laberdesque, a spokeswoman for the Coast Guard detachment in New York City.  A crew member radioed for help at 2:15 p.m. and said that the boat was taking on water and sinking.

The Coast Guard found three crew members alive in the water one mile south of Fire Island. The survivors were treated for hypothermia and brought to a hospital.

The dead crew member was found by the crew of a civilian tugboat that volunteered to help in the search as “good Samaritans,” Petty Officer Laberdesque said.

The names of the crew members on the boat that sank were not publicly released, but The Associated Press, citing Coast Guard officials in New Haven, reported that the ship was called the Sea Bear. The Coast Guard said it did not know for certain where the boat sank.

Petty Officer Laberdesque said the civilian ship that found the dead crew member was one of two boats to respond to an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast, which she described as the Coast Guard version of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s public safety notice, “If you see something, say something.”

“They volunteered their time and their vessels to help us locate these people in the water,” the petty officer said.

The three survivors withstood the Atlantic Ocean’s low temperatures in part because they were wearing immersion suits, which can keep a person warm in cold water for a limited period of time, said Petty Officer Laberdesque.  The suits are a safety measure that the Coast Guard advises all mariners to keep aboard their ships, especially in the Northeast.  

The Coast Guard initially said it was not clear if the dead crew member was wearing such a suit.  Later they did confirm that the fourth person did not wear an immersion suit.

Tugboats are compact, powerfully built vessels that are often used to do heavy lifting in ports and harbors, guiding larger ships to narrow berths in crowded docks or through tight canals. They are more typically associated with performing rescue operations than being in need of them.

The Coast Guard said it did not yet know why the boat sank but that an investigation was underway.

“There are plenty of reasons why a vessel could begin taking on water,” Petty Officer Laberdesque said.  “Maybe they were struck. Maybe it was a mechanical issue. It may have had to do with the integrity of the hull. Maybe their bilge pump failed. Right now, we do not know.”

Other officials indicated that stormy weather and heavy fog may have contributed to the sinking.  Considering how fast the boat sunk, they must have hit or collided with something.