Crewmembers of the vessel Exito are still missing after the 117-foot boat sank near Alaska’s Dutch Harbor on 6 December.
Exito’s owner radioed for help at around 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, 6 December, explaining that the vessel was taking on water approximately 14 miles away from Dutch Harbor. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter dispatched from Air Station Kodiak as well as four good Samaritan vessels responded to the call. Three members of the five-person crew were able to abandon ship together, and were rescued by one of the responding good Samaritan vessels. The two missing crewmembers were preparing to abandon ship, the rescued crew told the U.S. Coast Guard; one of the missing mates had donned a survival suit, while the other is believed to have not been able to do so.
The Coast Guard reported early in the morning on 8 December that the two crewmembers remained at large, according to a report from Alaska Dispatch News. The Guard dispatched cutter vessel Alex Haley to search for the missing crew, assisted by three good Samaritan vessels: the Commitment, the Blue North and the Northern Lead.
"We had the Alex Haley stay on scene — they searched throughout the night," said Operation Specialist 1st Class Trevor Frommherz, with the Coast Guard's District 17 Command Center, to the newspaper on the morning of 8 December. "There was no sign of the two missing crew members."
The Coast Guard called off the search on 8 December, and is now investigating what caused the Exito to sink.
Exito had been transporting cargo for Trident Seafoods between Dutch Harbor and the Aleutian community of Akutan, reported Alaska Dispatch News.
