Coast Guard crews from South Texas rescued a 37-year-old San Antonio from the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday after he was reported missing for more than 24 hours after his boat sank Saturday.
Crews searched for the man since 1 p.m. Sunday, after being notified by the oil rig supply vessel Go America that it had picked up three people out of the water offshore from San Jose Island near Port Aransas, and that there was another man missing. At about 8:30 p.m., lookouts on the Tanker Pacific Marchioness heard cries for help coming from the water. The tanker then contacted watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Corpus Christi Command Center. The watchstanders diverted an aircrew on an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter already airborne engaged in the search, according to a news release.
The helicopter arrived on scene three minutes after the Pacific Marchioness made contact with Coast Guard watchstanders. After a brief search, the air crew located the man and hoisted him aboard the rescue helicopter. The crew then transported him to Christus Spohn Hospital Memorial in Corpus Christi. He remains in stable condition.
Heat exhaustion poses serious threat to Texas anglers, hunters. http://t.co/97l68MndUh
— The Texas Outdoor Digest (@TXOutdoorDigest) September 5, 2013
The four San Antonio men were fishing near oil rigs east of Port O’Connor when their 25-foot center console boat sank. All four entered the water before they could call for help, but they were wearing life jackets and drifted overnight to where they were found by the Go America, according to the release.
The Coast Guard launched two crews on 45-foot response boats, one from Coast Guard Station Port O’Connor and one from Station Port Aransas, the Coast Guard Cutter Steelhead, an MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter from Sector Corpus Christi and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed wing surveillance aircraft from Air Station Mobile, Alabama to conduct the search. Watchstanders also made several Urgent Marine Information Broadcasts notifying vessels in the area to keep a look out for the man. The broadcast was heard by the crew of the Pacific Marchioness.
The Coast Guard urges the importance of using safe boating practices, including having a boating plan and communicating it with friends and family, not boating under the influence of alcohol and always wearing a life jacket.
