1 Dead, 2 Rescued From Sinking Boat In Gloucester
GLOUCESTER (CBS) -- One man died and two others were rescued after their fishing boat sank Thursday off the Gloucester coast.
The Orin C sank about 12 miles off Thatcher Island around 3 p.m., US Coast Guard officials say.
A good Samaritan aboard a boat called the "Foxy Lady" told the Coast Guard the fishing boat was broken down and needed a tow.
Phil Powell, captain of the Foxy Lady, told WBZ-TV's Bill Shields he heard a distress call from the fishing boat as he neared Gloucester Harbor. So, Powell turned around and headed back out to sea where he found the boat, which had a dead engine.
The ocean was already rough and getting rougher, so Powell hooked up a tow line to the Orin C, and began bringing in the disabled boat. The Foxy Lady was towing it toward the shore when a wave crashed over the bow, causing the fishing boat to take on water.
"I tried my best, but I feel really bad for (the victim's) family," he said.
Five hours later with the seas building, they called the Coast Guard.
"We train for this, but it's still tough," says Commander Robert Lepere. "By the time we got on scene, the seas were eight-to-10 feet high."
The Coast Guard tried towing the fishing boat, but a rogue wave hit it, and the pump failed.
The plan for safest rescue from the boat was to have each crew member enter the water and be recovered one at a time, officials said.
One man was rescued, but the boat sank too quickly and two men had to jump off the fishing boat. All three men were wearing their survival suits when they entered the water.
When they were brought on board, one of the men was unresponsive. The rescue team performed CPR on him for more than an hour, but he was pronounced dead when they arrived in Gloucester around 10:30 p.m.
The two men rescued were not hurt. The victim has not been identified by authorities.
The cause of the sinking remains under investigation.
