Good Samaritans Rescue Crew of Fishing Vessel in Gulf of Alaska

A good Samaritan vessel has rescued two fishermen from the cold waters of the Gulf of Alaska after a fishing vessel capsized off the coast of Kodiak, the U.S. Coast Guard said Thursday. 

At about 0945 hours on Wednesday morning, Coast Guard 17th District received a distress alert from the fishing vessel Tanusha’s EPIRB, located about 20 nautical miles southeast of Kodiak. In response, the command center dispatched a helicopter aircrew from Air Station Kodiak to the scene and made a VHF call to nearby shipping to request assistance. 

The fishing vessel Victory received the call and diverted to Tanusha’s last known location. The lost boat had begun taking water and had capsized, and the two crewmembers aboard had successfully abandoned ship. The crew of the Victory soon spotted the two survivors, who were drifting in a life raft near the upturned hull of their boat. One of them had a head injury and was showing signs of hypothermia. 

Both fishermen were taken safely aboard the Victory, and the Coast Guard helicopter aircrew arrived to airlift them for a medevac, with assistance from a patrol boat operated by the Alaska State Troopers. 

“The use of a functioning and properly registered EPIRB means quite literally the difference between life and death,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Sean Streyle of Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska. “In this case, it was our only notification that the crew of Tanusha needed assistance.”