The search for five missing fishermen from a capsized crabbing boat off the coast of Alaska has been suspended, Coast Guard officials said.
The 130-foot Scandies Rose sank at about 10 p.m. Tuesday with seven crew members aboard, two of whom were later rescued from a life raft, the US Coast Guard said.
The search to find the remaining crew members in the waters near Sutwik Island was called off late Wednesday after rescuers spent 20 hours and scanned more than 1,400 square miles, authorities said.
Scandies RoseFacebook“The decision to suspend an active search and rescue case is never easy, and it’s only made after careful consideration of a myriad of factors,” Rear Adm. Matthew Bell said in a statement. “Our deepest condolences to the friends and families impacted by this tragedy.”
The crabbing vessel’s last known position was about 170 miles southwest of Air Station Kodiak. The two “extremely hypothermic” men who were rescued were located in a life raft about 10 miles away, the Anchorage Daily News reports.
The crew members, ages 38 and 34, were plucked from the raft some four hours after the ship capsized. Aside from hypothermia concerns, they were in good spirits, the newspaper reports.
“Pretty much every variable weighed against both parties,” Lt. Kevin Knaup told the newspaper. “Everything was working against being able to find these two people.”
Coast Guard crews were faced with temps as low as 10 degrees, winds nearing 60 mph and single-digit wind chills during the search.
The names of the rescued men or the missing crew members have not been released, but one of the missing fishermen has been identified as Brock Rainey, of Kellogg, Idaho, KHQA reports.
“I love you Ashley and can’t wait to return home,” Rainey wrote on Facebook on Dec. 30.
Garry Cobban Jr., 61, and his son David, 30, were also aboard the Scandies Rose when it sank, relatives told the New York Times.
Deanna Cobban, Gary Cobban’s sister, said her brother was the captain and part-owner of the vessel.
“He loved fishing,” she told the newspaper. “He’s a crabber.”
