The US Coast Guard rescued a 65-foot lobster boat and its crew after it lost all steering and was adrift in the waters southwest of Nantucket.
Crews from Station Brant Point in Nantucket and Air Station Cape Cod responded to a call by the vessel named Two Dukes around 9.30 am earlier this week.
Four crew members and a dog were rescued. The captain was found with facial injuries after a window got blown out in the heavy seas and left him with lacerations.
The rescue crew, which included four people, found Two Dukes seven miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard.
Crews from Station Brant Point in Nantucket and Air Station Cape Cod responded to a call by the vessel named Two Dukes around 9.30 am earlier this week
The rescue crew, which included four people, found Two Dukes seven miles southeast of Martha’s Vineyard
Footage released by the US Coast Guard Northeast shows two crewmembers were hoisted by an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter.
The captain and first mate remained onboard to assist in towing Two Dukes.
A Coast Guard crew from Station Woods Hole towed the vessel to Vineyard Haven Harbor after receiving the boat from the Station Brant Point crew.
Station Brant Point master chief Lance Wiser praised his crew despite challenging weather conditions.
‘There were still rough conditions on the south side of the island. We went out in the worst of the storm yesterday for training, preparing for cases like this.
‘I couldn’t be more proud of this crew. First heavy weather SAR case of the winter season. Fifteen to 20-foot seas, shoals all over. The fishermen were extremely grateful.’
A Coast Guard crew from Station Woods Hole towed the vessel to Vineyard Haven Harbor after receiving the boat from the Station Brant Point crew
Footage released by the US Coast Guard Northeast shows two crewmembers were hoisted by an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter
The captain and first mate remained onboard to assist in towing Two Dukes
According to Coast Guard spokesperson Lyric Jackson, where Two Dukes set out from is unclear, but its home base is Newport.
Station Brant Point’s boatswain’s mate (BM2) Chad Austin said of the incident: ‘With the boat being dead in the water and caught between multiple shoals, it was the largest sea state I have seen in my four years here and definitely the most aggressive I have ever been in being a newly certified heavy weather coxswain.
‘My crew made it extremely easy for me as the boat driver. We trusted our training and everything ended up working out as smoothly as possible’
A fierce storm has hit the East Coast this week, bringing high winds and heavy downpours to northern New England.
According to PowerOutage.us, power to more than 750,000 customers across New England, New York and New Jersey had been cut due to winds.
The extreme weather caused four confirmed deaths along the Coast.