9 crew members rescued from a sinking ship off Florida coast: NPR
US Coast Guard
All are unharmed after nine people abandoned a sinking boat off the coast of Florida, thanks to a swift response from the US Coast Guard.
Coast Guard said it rescued all nine crew members out of the water after the recreational vessel sank about two miles south of Pensacola Pass on Saturday.
According to the agency, at 10:47 a.m., the Coast Guard received a call from a 50-foot Sport Fisher Slow Motion. A fleet of boats that patrolled the area arrived at the scene less than 10 minutes later, and eventually brought the boaters back to Big Lagoon State Park in Pensacola.
The Coast Guard said none of the nine crew members reported any medical concerns.
A Coast Guard spokesman told NPR that the boat was already sinking by the time the rescue team arrived.
Eight of the boaters were wearing life jackets at the time and one was not, said Riley Perkofski, Petty’s Third Class Officer.
“It looks like they hit something,” Perkofski said.
He noted that there was a sunken man-made reef in the area, as well as other shallows flowing from the nearby jetty, but could not confirm what caused the boat to sink.
The agency is investigating the incident, he said, adding that “investigations can take months and sometimes years.”