Updated Monday, 1:27 p.m.
Coast Guard crews from Station Menemsha and Air Station Cape Cod worked in tandem on Sunday morning to save six North Carolina fishermen from their sinking 72-foot scallop boat in a dramatic rescue in Buzzards Bay.
The captain of the Captain Jeff radioed the Woods Hole Coast Guard station at 9:30 am to report the boat was taking on water.
A 47-foot Motor Life Boat crew from Coast Guard Station Menemsha, a helicopter crew from Air Station Cape Cod, and a Buzzards Bay Task Force responded.
Once on scene, a rescue swimmer deployed from the helicopter onto the Captain Jeff with dewatering equipment to control the flooding, according to a Coast Guard press release.
After the rescue swimmer determined the dewatering equipment could not right the ship, he assisted the six crew members aboard a task force boat.
The survivors were taken into New Bedford for evaluation by paramedics. There were no reported injuries.
“The Coast Guard is grateful for the responsiveness and dedication of our interagency partners in Buzzards Bay,” Lieut. Jarrod Pomajzl, the command center chief at Sector Southeastern New England, said in a press release. “Everything they bring to the table improves the search and rescue system, and today they helped save six lives.”
The crew from Station Menemsha was Heavy Weather Coxswain Joseph Queen, Boat Crew Joel Behr, Boat Crew Martin Ridge, and Boat Engineer Ben Renna.
Wind gusts in Buzzards Bay were up to 48 knots yesterday, according to weather reports received by the Coast Guard. “It was definitely heavy weather conditions,” Station Menemsha Senior Chief Rob Riemer told The Times. “The crew was getting ready to head out for training anyway, so they diverted there pretty quickly,” he said.
Chief Riemer also had praise for efforts of the Buzzards Bay Marine Task Force, which is an alliance of fire departments, harbormasters, police departments, the Massachusetts Environmental Police, and commercial salvage operators with marine rescue capabilities from Wareham, Onset, New Bedford, Bourne, Falmouth, Marion, Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Dartmouth, and Westport.
A Coast Guard spokesman told The Times on Tuesday that the cause of the sinking is still under investigation, and that no environmental damage from fuel leaks had occurred. Fairhaven Shipyard salvaged the boat, which is now out of the water, in Fairhaven Harbor.
The Captain Jeff’s home port is New Bern, N.C.
“The Coast Guard is grateful for the responsiveness and dedication of our interagency partners in Buzzards Bay,” Lt. Jarrod Pomajzl, the command center chief at Sector Southeastern New England said in a press release. “Everything they bring to the table improves the search and rescue system, and today they helped save six lives.”
The crew from Station Menemsha was Heavy Weather Coxswain Joseph Queen, Boat Crew Joel Behr, Boat Crew Martin Ridge, and Boat Engineer Ben Renna.
Wind gusts in Buzzards Bay were up to 48 knots yesterday, according to weather reports received by the Coast Guard. “It was definitely heavy weather conditions,” Station Menemsha Senior Chief Rob Riemer told The Times. “The crew was getting ready to head out for training anyway, so they diverted there pretty quickly,” he said.
Mr. Riemer also had praise for efforts of the Buzzards Bay Marine Task Force, which is an alliance of fire departments, harbormasters, police departments, the Massachusetts Environmental Police and commercial salvage operators with marine rescue capabilities, from Wareham, Onset, New Bedford, Bourne, Falmouth, Marion, Mattapoisett, Fairhaven, Dartmouth and Westport.
The Captain Jeff is currently still sinking and adrift in New Bedford Harbor. Commercial salvage has been arranged. The cause of the sinking is under investigation.
The Captain Jeff is homeported in New Bern, North Carolina.
