An all-night search was underway in the Pribilof Islands on Feb. 11 for a 98-foot fishing vessel that issued a radio beacon alert, U.S. Coast Guard officials said.
A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules crew and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews began responding earlier in the evening to an electronic position indicating radio beacon alert from the fishing vessel Destination some two miles northwest of St. George Island.
Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders in Juneau received the alert on the morning of Feb. 11 and launched the aircraft crews. The HC-130 Hercules crew began its on scene search at mid-morning, and the MH-60 Jayhawks arrived in early afternoon.
Two good Samaritan fishing vessels, the Silver Spray and Bering Rose, are assisting in the search, and residents of St. George assembled a search party to patrol the shoreline for any signs of the vessel or crew.
The EPIRB has been recovered among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring from fishing vessel Destination and an oil sheen. Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan, 17th District watchstander, said the Coast Guard is saturating the area with Coast Guard and good Samaritan assets and hoping for the best.
Weather on scene was reported as 30 mile an hour winds, five to eight foot seas and snowing. Air temperatures was 20 degrees and sea temperature 30 degrees.
