The two men had been on a raft for two days after their boat sank, and according to the US Coast Guard, they were up to the last alarm when a passing boat spotted them in the Gulf of Mexico.
Facebook screenshot
Two fishermen who had been “lost at sea” on a raft for nearly three days were down to the last alarm when a passing vessel saw the signal fading in the Gulf of Mexico. according to the US Coast Guard.
The boaters were rescued 63 miles off Dauphin Island in Alabama on Tuesday, Oct. 11, according to a Coast Guard news release. The island is at the entrance to Mobile Bay.
“Two boaters woke up on Saturday night with half of their boat submerged in water,” according to the Coast Guard. “They got into a life raft and … were lost at sea for two days.”
They escaped from the rapidly sinking boat with six flares, and “the first five were negative,” the Coast Guard said. “During the last and final flare, they were spotted by the commercial tug Linda Moran passing by.”
The crew of the Linda Moran removed the men from the raft shortly before noon Tuesday, officials said. The tug was en route from Pascagoula, Mississippi to Tampa, Florida when the crew spotted a flare, records show.
A Coast Guard Jayhawk helicopter transported the men “to emergency medical personnel at the Pensacola Regional Airport,” officials said.
The identities of the boatmen have not been released. Their condition was stable on Tuesday. Pictures show the two were alert when they were brought to shore.
Details of their port of origin and reason for the boat sink were not released.
Dave Goodwin III, who works aboard Linda Moran, shared photos of the rescue on Facebook and reported that the men were commercial fishermen.
“They had been at sea for over 2.5 days when we found them adrift. … Their 36-foot fishing boat sank in the middle of the night while at anchor, and they barely made it to the life raft.” Goodwin wrote in a Facebook post.
“Although they were very hungry, they were generally in good health and very grateful that we came to their aid. …I am very proud of my shipmates.”
The photo shows that the men managed to get a small amount provisions and two oars into the raft before their boat sank.