Two U.S. Coast Guard aircrews rescued 12 crewmembers from a capsized research ship approximately south of Pensacola, Friday morning.
The 170-foot research ship, the Seaprobe, had left the Port of Tampa on Wednesday night with the Captain reporting his last position at around 1 a.m. Thursday morning.
The crew was en-route to New Orleans, Louisiana when the ship began taking on water about 140 miles south of Pensacola.
"The vessel that took on water ended up sinking and the people ended up in a life raft and that helicopter had put their swimmer in the water,” said Lt. Commander Jim Pershing of the U.S. Coast Guard. “He went over and he was taking the survivors one by one out of the life raft into the water and hoisting them up into the helicopter."
It was certainly not an easy feat in the darkness at 2:30 a.m. Friday as the crew, clinging to two life rafts and in the water for nearly two hours, struggled in the 65 degree water with winds making conditions feel more like it was below freezing.
"We had pretty rough seas so the basket was going all over the place in the water so I was having to chase it," said Robert McDonald, an Aviation Maintenance Technician.
The 170-foot long, Seaprobe, built in 1974, sailed around the world researching off-short soils but for some reason not yet known, this mission as cut short.
A spokesperson for the company said, “with the help of the U.S. Coast Guard, we are investigating this incident. We thank the U.S. Coast guard and Fugro’s personnel for their quick response and vigilance.
It is just another instance in which Coast Guard crews, this time from Clearwater and Mobile, had the chance to put their training to good use and rescuing the men in just one hour’s time.
Three of the crew members had to be transported to the hospital with minor injuries.
The incident remains under investigation.