Fishing crew fire flare from sinking ship
28/02/2020
A fishing crew in a sinking ship have told how they were rescued after firing a flare to alert a US Coast Guard plane.
The New Age trawler was around 20 miles away from Fire Island Inlet, in New York State, early one February morning when it started sinking in 30-knot winds, reports the Newsday.com website.
Crew member Mike Havens noticed the 45-foot vessel was taking on water and was listing badly in the swells. Captain Billy Carman radioed the Coast Guard and fired a flare as the crew got into survival suits and prepared a life raft.
They then spotted the Coast Guard plane, which has been send along with two ships and a helicopter to find the fishing boat.
They kept in radio contact and decided to first take off a crew member who had injured a rib in a fall using the hoist.
The other crew members wanted to stay with the boat, but conditions were so bad that they all had to be rescued by the Coast Guard boat.
The image of New Age being rescued by a 45-foot response boat from Station Fire Island and a 47-foot motor lifeboat from Station Sandy Hook, New Jersey, is by U.S. Coast Guard/Caelan Harshaw.
