Coast Guard searching Gulf for 12 people after commercial boat capsizes off Louisiana
Search and rescue teams on Wednesday were combing through the Gulf of Mexico after a commercial vessel carrying 18 people capsized off the coast of Louisiana.
Coast Guard crews, with the help of several Good Samaritans aboard private boats, managed to pluck six survivors from the water overnight and resumed search operations around 9 a.m. local time.
The Coast Guard said it had sent a pair of cutters, two smaller boats, a helicopter and an airplane to assist in the efforts.
The 129-foot lift vessel, named Seacor Power, overturned about eight miles away from its destination of Port Fourchon, Louisiana, a coastal town nearly 100 miles south of New Orleans, according to a press release from the U.S. Coast Guard. It started taking on water Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. as severe thunderstorms and heavy gusts struck the region.
Lafourche Parish President Archie Chaisson III confirmed the boat “ran into some trouble with the wind and the sea” in the hours leading up to the sinking, according to the New York Times.
“We continue to pray for everyone who is on that vessel, as well the families, as well as the Seacor Marine families,” Chaisson said during a press conference early Wednesday morning.
“We continue to pray for the rescue operators who are out there continuing to help bring these people home.”
Video taken from a nearby boat shows the Seacor Power, which is owned by Seacor Marine, dipping beneath the surface as the water is whipped around by the wild weather.
Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards also offered his prayers to those awaiting the safe return of their loved ones.
“Please join @FirstLadyOfLA and me in praying for those who remain missing after yesterday’s capsizing off the coast of Grand Isle and for those who are working to rescue them,” the Democratic leader tweeted on Wednesday.
He followed it up with a warning about the ongoing severe weather in the region.