Coast Guard locates crew of disabled fishing vessel
Advertiser Staff
The Coast Guard says that it located the 28-member crew of the disabled fishing vessel Hou Chun 11 early Tuesday morning and was providing medical care to injured crewmembers.
Corpsmen aboard the cutter Alex Haley are treating two Hou Chun 11 crewmembers who are reported to have suffered burns. The Alex Haley will take the injured men to Christmas Island, Kiribati, where they will be medically evacuated.
The Alex Haley arrived on scene at approximately 3 a.m. Tuesday. A Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point HC-130 Hercules aircrew remained on scene after the Alex Haley arrived to coordinate the exact position of the life rafts.
The cause of the fire remains unknown.
Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center watchstanders received the call here Monday at 7:30 a.m. about a fire aboard Hou Chun 11 and launched an HC-130 Hercules at 10 a.m. to the vessel's location 900 miles southwest of Honolulu.
The Alex Haley, homeported in Kodiak, Alaska, and a U.S. Navy P-3 aircrew also responded to the call.