Haitian Crewmembers Rescued at Sea
U. S. Coast Guard
December 14, 2004
MIAMI - Friday night the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Vigorous, a 210-foot medium endurace cutter out of Cape May, N.J., rescued six people off the sinking motor vessel Union in the Windward Passage.
The Vigorous stopped the Union, which was operating without any lights, to determine the country of the vessel and the reason for its voyage.
Shortly after the initial communications, the master of the 40-foot Haitian motor vessel Union, radioed that his engines had just stopped and he was unable to restart them in the rough seas.
A rescue-and-assistance team from the Vigorous went on board the Union, at the request of the master, to determine the problem and see if temporary repairs could be made.
The team discovered a poorly maintained vessel with about a foot of water in the engine room.
The crew decided to tow the vessel until weather improved and daylight repairs could be conducted.
The six-member crew of the 40-foot vessel remained with their boat and the Vigorous made a course for Port Au Prince, Haiti, with the Union in tow.
Early Saturday morning, the Union began flooding rapidly in multiple spaces and was in danger of capsizing.
A rescue boat and crew from the cutter Vigorous was deployed, and the six crewmembers of the Union were safely transferred off the sinking boat.
The Union capsized and sank stern first just after it was cut from being towed.
The Vigorous returned the six survivors to Haiti.
Back in October, Coast Guard Cutter Tampa, a a 270-foot medium endurance cutter out of Portsmouth, Va., rescued 20 Haitians in the Windward Pass when from their 50-foot sail fraighter became disabled in heavy weather .
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