NEW BEDFORD , Mass., Nov. 21 (UPI) — Six people were rescued from a sinking 72-foot scallop boat in waters off New Bedford, Mass., the U.S. Coast Guard reported.
One of the crew members aboard the scallop boat, the Captain Jeff, radioed Sunday morning that the boat was taking on water, prompting a rescue effort by Coast Guard Station Menemsha and Air Station Cape Cod. One member of the Coast Guard, arriving by helicopter, swam to the sinking boat with dewatering equipment to remove water from the boat. After it was established that the dewatering equipment would not save the scallop boat, he helped the six people off the boat, and onto a Coast Guard boat.
The six people aboard the scallop boat, whose home port is New Bern, N.C., were hospitalized. No injuries were reported.
The Captain Jeff remains sinking and adrift in New Bedford harbor, and a commercial salvage effort has been scheduled. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.
