The U.S. Coast Guard credits good Samaritans aboard two fishing vessels with rescuing three men from the water near Valdez Arm after the sinking of their landing craft Wednesday night. According to a Coast Guard statement late Wednesday, watchstanders with Coast Guard Sector Anchorage received a mayday radio call from the Belltech 5 reporting that the craft was taking on water near Valdez Arm. Two vessels, the 36-foot Miss Jana and the 50-foot Equinox, were in the area. “Sector Anchorage issued an urgent marine information broadcast and the crew of the Miss Jana responded to the scene, rescuing the three men from the water,” officials wrote. “Shortly after embarking the men, the crew of the Miss Jana reported engine problems and transferred the men to the nearby fishing vessel Equinox. The Equinox took the Miss Jana in tow.” A Valdez-based 45-foot Coast Guard response boat met the Equinox, taking the rescued men aboard and transferring them to Valdez for medical treatment. “The Coast Guard appreciates the vigilance and assistance of Alaska’s professional mariners,” Jimmy Belcher, Sector Anchorage command center operations unit controller, said in the statement. “With the help of the crew from the fishing vessels Miss Jana and Equinox, these three men are now safe on land and will be able to go home to their families.” The Belltech 5 reportedly went down in 1,200 feet of water, in three-foot seas with winds at 7 mph and snow in the area. The Coast Guard’s Marine Safety Unit Valdez is monitoring the site for signs of pollution with none seen so far, and investigating the cause of the sinking.
Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer 3rd Class Jonathan Klingenberg says the Belltech 5's entire crew was rescued. He didn't have immediate information Wednesday about when or where the sinking occurred, or the condition of the rescued men.
"It wasn't too far from port," Klingenberg said. "We handed them off to emergency medical services as soon as we pulled into port."