17th District Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: Apr. 10, 2006
Contact: Petty Officer Eric Chandler
(907) 463- 2065

After 4 p.m. Alaska Standard Time, (907) 463-2000

Press Release

Coast Guard helicopter crew rescues four from grounded fishing vessel 

JUNEAU, Alaska - The crew of a Coast Guard HH-60 helicopter from Air Station Kodiak rescued four men from the fishing vessel Laura after it ran aground on the south end of Long Island, six miles east of Kodiak this morning.

At 2:24 a.m. an Air Station Kodiak crewman notified the North Pacific Search and Rescue Coordination Center (NPSC) in Juneau that they received a MAYDAY call from a crewmember aboard the Laura. A watchstander at the NPSC issued an urgent marine information broadcast and requested the master of the Laura to activate the vessels electronic position indicating radio beacon.

All four people on board were hoisted by the HH-60 crew and returned to Kodiak with no reported injuries. The vessels's master reported there was no pollution from the incident and that the diesel tanks, containing 3,000 gallons of fuel, appeared undamaged. The master intends to return to the scene and salvage the Laura at the next high tide.