Alaska Coast Guard Searching for 6 From Missing Crab Boat

It vanished in choppy seas Saturday
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 13, 2017 12:11 AM CST
Crab Boat With 6 Aboard Missing in Bering Sea
The sun glistens off the frozen Bering Sea on Friday, March 7, 2014, in Nome, Alaska.   (AP Photo/Mark Thiessen)

The Coast Guard is searching the Bering Sea and people on the tiny Alaskan island of St. George are searching the shore for any sign of six crew members from a missing crab boat. The 95-foot F/V Destination was on its way to begin fishing for snow crab when an emergency was activated Saturday evening, Alaska Dispatch News reports. A Coast Guard crew found the ship's electronic locating device, buoys, a life ring, and an oil sheen amid other debris around 2 miles away from St. George later Saturday, reports the AP. It's not clear what happened to the ship, though the seas were choppy on Saturday and there was a heavy freezing spray warning in effect.

The Coast Guard says it believe six people were on board the Seattle-based boat when it vanished, KING 5 reports. The search and rescue effort has included HC-130 Hercules planes and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. Fisherman Dylan Hatfield tells the Dispatch News that his brother is one of the missing crew members. He says he spent six years working on the Destination himself, and describes the vessel as a well-maintained "work horse." "Everybody I've talked to, nobody can believe of all the boats that this one went down," he says. Hatfield says he now plans to take a break from the Bering Sea fishing made famous by the Deadliest Catch show. "We all know the consequences. It's in the back of everybody's mind," he says. "You never think it's gonna happen to you." (More Alaska stories.)

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