Four fishermen were rescued Friday morning when their ship sank off Prince of Wales Island.
The crew of the 78-foot Mary Kay issued a mayday call before eleven p.m. Thursday while it was off Cape Chacon near South Prince of Wales Island.
Lieutenant Eddie Michno of the Juneau Coast Guard Command Center says the vessel sank about three a.m. Friday about 10 miles south of the island.
A Canadian rescue aircraft, a Coast Guard H-60 helicopter from Sitka, and the state trooper vessel Enforcer headed to the scene along with two good-Samaritan vessels.
Four people abandoned the Mary Kay. They were picked up from their life raft and taken aboard the fishing vessel North Wind. No major injuries were reported, and the crew members were wearing emergency immersion suits. The North Wind brought the crew to Ketchikan.
About 25-hundred gallons of diesel were reported on board the Mary Kay when it sank in about 600 feet of water. Michno says the Marine Safety Detachment in Ketchikan plans to check out the scene for any pollution.
Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Ryan Erickson says it’s unlikely the vessel will be recovered due to the depth of water in which it sank.
