Seward Men Rescued by the Coast Guard

6/17/2010

The U.S. Coast Guard reports that three Seward men were rescued from a 58-foot fishing vessel in the Valdez Narrows. The Coast Guard said the Copasetic reportedly started taking on water and was intentionally grounded to prevent it from sinking or impeding vessel traffic in the area.

Jonathan Wilkie, Derrick Branson and Joshua Zimmerman from Seward were rescued after the Coast Guard received a call for help at 3:15 a.m., this morning. A rescue crew was launched from Valdez.

The Coast Guard learned that the owner and operator of the vessel, Wilkie, and his crew brought their vessel to the shore where they securely anchored and then abandoned ship. The crew used a skiff on board to reach the beach. There were no reported health concerns or injuries with the three men.

The crew reported no more than 1,000 gallons of diesel and 400 gallons of gasoline were aboard the grounded vessel. There was no visible pollution reported.