Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Abandoned boat found in Icy Strait; skipper rescued while search continues for deckhand

A search is under way for a missing crewman in Icy Strait, 40 miles west of Juneau.

The crewman is off the 34-foot fishing vessel Swift.

The U.S. Coast Guard said it received a call just after midnight from the 57-foot tender Pacific Horizon, which had rendezvoused with the Swift and found no one aboard.

A Coast Guard helicopter found the Swift's captain on a beach near an overturned skiff. Mildly hypothermic, he was airlifted to Juneau for medical attention.

A deckhand on the Swift remains missing. He was wearing a gray, hooded sweatshirt and black rain pants.

Winds are light and seas calm in the search area.

KINY radio quotes a Coast Guard officer as saying the Swift was taking part in a chum salmon fishery.

The deckhand fell overboard, and when the captain launched a skiff to help him, he also went into the water, the station reported.

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