The search for five missing fishermen was called off a day after their boat sunk in the Gulf of Alaska.
Scandies Rose, a 130-foot crabbing vessel, began taking on water at about 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday south of Sutwik Island, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Rescue crews arrived at the area around 2 a.m. that night but had to fight against large waves and almost no visibility.
Two members of the crew were rescued. They were found floating in a bright orange life raft with a light affixed to it. The survivors were “extremely hypothermic” and airlifted to the hospital, where they are expected to recover.
The men, whose names have not yet been released, told rescuers that they were the only ones who were able to make it inside the raft. They were wearing survival suits but said they weren’t sure the other crew members were able to put their suits on in time. Another empty life raft was found near the area of the accident.
“Pretty much every variable weighed against both parties,” said Coast Guard Lt. Kevin Knaup, who was involved in the rescue. “Everything was working against being able to find these two people.”
At the time that the vessel capsized, temperatures hovered at about 10 degrees with a wind chill in the single digits.
The search for the remaining five crew members was suspended at 6:08 p.m. on Wednesday after a 20-hour search that covered 1,400 square miles and included helicopter and airplane crews.
“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,” said Coast Guard Rear Adm. Matthew Bell in a statement. “Our deepest condolences to the friends and families impacted by this tragedy.”
The Scandies Rose, a steel vessel built in 1978, was homeported in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, and owned by a fishing company out of Seattle. It is not yet clear what caused the ship to sink.
