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Mostly Cloudy Two boat crews rescued in East Rockaway Inlet
Fishing boat runs aground; Coast Guard vessel capsized
A Coast Guard boat sent to help in the rescue of a commercial fishing boat that ran aground in East Rockaway Inlet capsized in rough ocean water off of Atlantic Beach on Feb. 25.
At 2:38 a.m., the Lawrence-Cedarhurst Fire Department received a call that a boat had run aground in East Rockaway Inlet about a half hour before and had taken on water, Chief David Campbell said.
“We responded, conditions were bad, visibility was five-feet and the waves were 9 to 12 feet out in the ocean,” Campbell said. “Once we got out on the boat we notified New York City police harbor patrol and the FDNY. We heard the vessel had stopped taking on water and they were going to wait for the tide to come in and another one of their vessels. So everybody cancelled.”
The seven men aboard the 76-foot fishing boat were rescued by a HH-65 Dolphin Helicopter from Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City. There were no injuries or medical concerns for all the fishing vessel mariners.
“It was a challenging case, but we had tremendous cooperation from the New York Police Department and the New York Fire Department,” Lt. Mark Bruno, the lead pilot on the helicopter, said in a media release. “Everyone communicated well and were able to work together to get the fisherman safely ashore.”
The Coast Guard had sent out a 25-foot boat from Jones Beach to help in the rescue of the fishing boat crew.
About an hour later after the first call was received by local fire departments, including the Inwood Fire Department, it was learned that radio contact had been lost with the Coast Guard boat.
“Deputy Chief (Anthony) Rivelli heard the call that the boat had overturned and he called for divers and water rescue,” said Inwood Chief Frank Parise. “We got there and set up a command post. We found that they were safely ashore and cancelled the dive team. City EMS said that the Coast Guard guys were OK.”
Parise sad that when the Coast Guard boat was responding to the East Rockaway call there was almost “zero visibility and 10 to 12-foot waves” and in the area where the vessel capsized narrows making navigation even more hazardous.
Salvage plans were being conducted to remove the fishing vessel and Coast Guard boat from the inlet.
