| Office of Public Affairs U.S. Coast Guard First District |
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| Press Release |
Date: March 15, 2009 |
| Coast Guard towing disabled fishing boat |
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BOSTON - A 110-foot Coast Guard cutter is towing a Scituate, Mass., fishing vessel today, after it became disabled approximately 90 miles east of Cape Ann, Mass., Saturday. The four-member crew of the 49-foot Mary Elizabeth is not in any distress. Coast Guard Sector Boston issued a marine broadcast requesting assistance for the boat, after receiving a radio call from the Mary Elizabeth crew around 4 a.m., Saturday, reporting their boat was experiencing engine problems. The Coast Guard received no response to the broadcast, so watchstanders at the First District Command Center in Boston directed the Coast Guard Cutter Jefferson Island, homeported in Portland, Maine, to assist the Mary Elizabeth. "The Mary Elizabeth crew could only operate their boat at two-knots," said Tim Carton, a search and rescue specialist from the First District. "Because at that speed they are only able to hold position, and with the weather expected to worsen tonight, we knew we had to get the Jefferson Island crew on scene to help these guys out." The Jefferson Island crew arrived on scene with the Mary Elizabeth around 5 a.m., today and is towing the disabled boat toward Scituate. The vessel Isabella & Ava is expected to meet the cutter later today and complete the tow into Scituate. |
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