(U.S. Coast Guard photo)
July 20th, 2015
A Coast Guard helicopter rescue crew from Cape Cod, Massachusetts pulled three people from the water more than 150 miles off the coast after their vessel sank Monday.
Watchstanders at the 1st Coast Guard District Command Center in Boston received an emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) alert from the vessel Scotia Provider, home-ported in Yarmouth, Nova Scotia at 12:41 p.m.
The crew of the 54-foot fishing vessel Scotia Provider discovered their engine room full of water, sent their last know position via satellite phone, and abandoned ship into a life raft.
Two aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod were launched. Multiple fishing vessels and the 270-foot Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba were diverted to assist.
Arriving on scene at 3:10 p.m. the three men were safely hoisted to the helicopter and flown back to Cape Cod.
“As soon as we saw the beacon go off I knew they were in trouble, said Petty Officer 1st Class Paul Brancaleone, one of the operations unit coordinators at the 1st Coast Guard District. “We launched multiple assets and we got the fishermen to safety, just like we are trained to do.”
Every year the First Coast Guard District saves 350 lives in the Northeast.