The 53-foot F/V Pacific Star was taking on water in the vicinity of Fairweather Ground, approximately 50 miles southeast of Lituya Bay.

Video of Coast Guard lowering a dewatering pump to the Pacific Star:

Video by Petty Officer 1st Class William Colclough, Air Station Sitka

The captain called Coast Guard Sector Juneau at 9 a.m. on Thursday. He reported the fiberglass longliner was taking on water through a hatch, toward the rear of the vessel. All crew members donned survival suits and headed toward Lituya Bay.

Sector Juneau launched two aircrews to assist – one Air Station Sitka MH-60 Jayhawk crew and one Air Station Kodiak HC-130 crew.

At 10 p.m. on Thursday, the Sitka crew lowered a dewatering pump to the Pacific Star. The captain reported the pump keeping up with flooding, and decided to continue sailing closer to shore.

The Kodiak crew flew overhead and maintained communication with the Pacific Star, while the Sitka crew refueled in Yakutat. The tug Bering Titan also escorted the Pacific Star, in case the situation deteriorated.

At 8 a.m. on Friday, the Pacific Star made safe transit to Graves Harbor. There, the vessel dewatered and made repairs, before getting underway to Sitka. The Good Samaritan vessel Sherrie Marie was anchored nearby. The F/V Sherrie Marie is escorting the Pacific Star, as it makes its way back to Sitka under its own power.

In a press release, Lt. Kailee Evereteze, Sector Juneau command duty officer, said, “Good Samaritans play a key role in many situations encountered in southeast Alaska. They often provide critical communications and other assistance to mariners in remote areas.”

Weather on scene was 9 to 11-mph winds and 3 to 4-foot seas.

With winds in excess of 50 knots out of the north, Murphy says flying a Sitka helicopter south out of Cordova was the faster option for getting to the stricken Lady Gudny. (USCG photo)

Four mariners were rescued from their stricken fishing vessel in the Gulf of Alaska on Friday (1-6-17) — in a mission coordinated by Air Station Kodiak, and executed by Air Station Sitka.

The trawler Lady Gudny reported fuel problems about 230 miles southeast of Kodiak on Thursday. By Friday the boat was adrift in high winds and heavy seas.

Cmdr. Mo Murphy, operations officer at Air Station Sitka, says his unit decided to be proactive about a possible rescue of the Lady Gudny’s crew.

“When we heard they were in trouble, we pre-positioned one of our aircraft in Cordova, in anticipation of having to respond.”

Cordova was about 200 miles north of the Lady Gudny’s position. The Coast Guard Air Station there is manned in summertime by personnel from Kodiak, but it’s not usually manned at all in winter.

But, with winds clocking at around 50 miles per hour out of the north, Cordova proved to be the ideal location for the Air Station Sitka helicopter to launch on Friday morning.

“The seas were about 20 feet with some 30-footers. And so anytime you’re over a boat that’s moving that much it’s going to get a little sporty for the basket or anybody that’s in the basket going down to try and help folks out. So yes, it was close to our limitations both for distance — it ended up being about 235 miles away from Cordova — the crew only had about 30 minutes on scene before they had to return to base for fuel. And for sea state.”

Video: Fishing vessel Lady Gudny rescue

The Air Station Sitka helicopter successfully hoisted all four crewmembers of the Lady Gudny and flew them across the Gulf to Kodiak, where they were reported to be in good health.

Murphy is pleased with the performance of his crew during the mission. The only problem now: He’s got to get his helicopter back from Kodiak. Maybe later this week, if the weather holds.

“It’s a couple-hour flight from Kodiak to Cordova. Then anywhere from 3-4 hours from Cordova back to Sitka. So that will be a nice flight for people — if it’s nice weather — to see the coast all the way down.”

The Lady Gudny was last reported under tow by a commercial tug back to Kodiak — as was the Coast Guard Cutter Spar. The Spar attempted to take the Lady Gudny under tow, but the tow line broke and got caught in the Spar’s propellers, disabling the ship.