The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended the search for five people missing after a fishing boat capsized near Couverden Point, Alaska, U.S.A., in a storm.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a mayday call just after midnight on 1 December from the Wind Walker, a 50-foot fishing vessel. According to the distress call, the boat was overturning in difficult seas.
In response, the Coast Guard sent out a marine information broadcast and immediately launched a search helicopter from its Sitka-based station, as well as a 45-foot response boat from Coast Guard Station Juneau. The search was later joined by Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska, Coast Guard Air Station Sitka, Coast Guard Station Juneau, Coast Guard Cutter Healy, and the AMHS Hubbard – a ferry vessel in the area that overheard the emergency broadcast and arrived on the scene first to help.
According to the Coast Guard, searchers had to contend with 45- to 60-mph winds, 6-foot waves, and heavy snow that severely limited visibility.
Responders reportedly found seven empty coldwater immersion suits on the scene, but no signs of the crew themselves.
After covering over 108 square nautical miles in a search lasting nearly 24 hours, the U.S. Coast Guard announced it was suspending its search pending any new information.
“We stand in sorrow and solidarity with the friends and family of the people we were not able to find over the past 24 hours,” said U.S. Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, a search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska. “I am deeply grateful for the swiftness of our crews and other search assets who came together to amplify our efforts and completely saturate our search areas. Our collective hearts are with the friends and families of the who are experiencing the effects from this loss.”
