An extensive daylong search by the Coast Guard turned up no sign of six people who had radioed that their fishing boat was sinking in the Gulf of Mexico off Galveston, Texas.
Darkness prompted a halt Monday evening to the extensive air-and-sea search and the Coast Guard resumed the search Tuesday morning, but suspended its search at noon.
“The Coast Guard has saturated the search area for the past two days with no success in finding the life raft or any signs indicating that a vessel sunk,” Lt. Julio Gonzalez, command duty officer for Sector Houston-Galveston, said in a press release.
According to a Coast Guard statement, an unidentified man saying he was a fishing boat captain radioed Sunday afternoon saying the vessel was taking on water and that six people aboard planned to take to an orange life raft.
“We have an on-board emergency. We are taking on water, sir,” the unidentified boat captain said in a distress call to the Coast Guard.
The boat was reported to have been sinking somewhere off the coast of Galveston, about 50 miles southeast of Houston. At least three boats, a helicopter, a plane and two cutters are involved in the search for the missing fishermen in a stretch of water roughly the size of Delaware, according to the Coast Guard statement.
No reports were received by telephone or other sources to confirm a vessel was overdue or that any of six people were missing, Petty Officer Richard Brahm told the Associated Press.
Click here for the full report and click here for the official Coast Guard press release.
