Six people have been rescued after a 129-foot lift plunged eight kilometers from Port Fourchon, La, on Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard said. Rescue efforts continue into the night.
Six people have been rescued and several others missing after a commercial boat capsized in a storm about eight miles off the coast of Louisiana on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Coast Guard, the episode occurred around 4:30 p.m. outside Port Fourchon, La, in the Gulf of Mexico and involved a 129-foot commercial elevator.
“We are still looking for more people,” Non-commissioned officer Jonathan Lally, a spokesman for the 8th District Coast Guard, said in an interview Tuesday night. Officials said they did not know how many people were on board the vessel. Information about the owner of the boat was also not available.
The situation drew a large-scale rescue effort, with civilian skippers assisting the Coast Guard with a search that continued late Tuesday night. The Coast Guard said they deployed two cutters, two smaller boats, a helicopter and a plane as part of the effort. Earlier, the vessel capsized at Grand Isle, La., Which is about 18 miles northeast of Port Fourchon and about 100 miles south of New Orleans.
According to the National Weather Service, which issued an instantaneous flood watch for much of the coast of Louisiana, the state brought in a gale of more than 60 kilometers per hour and an average of three to five centimeters of rain on Tuesday.
“I have NEVER heard so many MAYDAY calls in my life!”, One man, Bruce J. Simon, wrote in a Facebook entry that has been shared more than 3,000 times. “Waves break over the bow! An elevator turned around. ‘
He also said ‘other boats turned around’ and encouraged people to ‘pray for the lost!’ Later, Mr. Simon posted two short videos of a window soaked by rain and looking at the bow of a boat while a wave crashed over it.
A message sent via Facebook to Mr. Simon was not sent back immediately.
An elevator is a self-propelled work ship with a wide open deck that is usually found along the Gulf Coast. They support drilling, construction and ocean exploration and can work in shallow or deep water environments, depending on their self-enhancing capabilities. They can use legs and lifting systems.
Lew Serviss reported.