Six crew members were rescued after a longline-fishing vessel ran aground on the Big Island early this morning and began to break up as it was pushed against the rocky shore.

The wreck took place shortly before 5 a.m. The crew of the Seven Stars set off a beacon when their 69-foot vessel lost power, drifted inside the breakers and ran aground about 7 miles north of Hilo, near Kukui Point in Onomea Bay, authorities said.

Big Island firefighters rescued six people shortly before 5 a.m. Five were aboard the boat. One man had fallen overboard and was pulled from the ocean by helicopter, said Fire Capt. Clarence Young.

The Fire Department then secured the area until officials from the state Department of Land and Natural Resources and the U.S. Coast Guard arrived to investigate the accident and determine whether there had been any hazardous spill or waste.

Petty Officer Michael De Nyse, a Coast Guard spokesman, said witnesses reported a 600-by-600-foot sheen had appeared on the water near the boat.

Kwang Myong, the Honolulu-based company that owns Seven Stars, has hired a company to remove the 700 gallons of fuel aboard the boat and to salvage the vessel, De Nyse said.

The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the wreck, he said.

Reach Karen Blakeman at kblakeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.