SHIPS RESCUE CREW OF SINKING BOAT OFF ALASKAN COAST

ANCHORAGE Two ships heard the Coast Guard’s emergency call to help a sinking fishing boat and rushed to rescue 46 crew members who had hopped into life rafts off Alaska’s Aleutian Islands.

There were no reports of injuries as the vessels plucked the crew from the Bering Sea, Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said. The ships then began a 13-hour voyage to a port in Adak, Alaska.

When the 220-foot Alaska Juris started taking on water, all crew members donned survival suits and got into three rafts. An emergency beacon alerted the Coast Guard to the sinking ship.

The Spar Canis and the Vienna Express rushed to the scene in response to the agency’s emergency broadcast for help, as did two other merchant vessels.

“The good Samaritans’ willingness to respond ... was paramount to getting the Alaska Juris crew to safety,” said Lt. Greg Isbell, Coast Guard District 17 command duty officer.

Video footage showed one of the bright orange life rafts floating some distance from the stricken boat, while another appeared tethered to it. The Coast Guard footage shot from an aircraft also showed a merchant ship in the distance, apparently headed toward the boat.