US Coast Guard aircrew yesterday airlifted four crew from a disabled fishing vessel 230 nautical miles ESE of Kodiak.
The 17th Coast Guard District Command Center had received notification on Thursday from Coast Guard Communications Detachment Kodiak that fishing vessel Lady Gudny was experiencing fuel filtration problems, and that there were no health or medical concerns for the four crew on board.
By Friday morning the 225t-foot Kodiak-based Coast Guard buoy tender SPAR was on the scene where the Lady Gudny was in trouble and prepared to take it in tow, until the towline parted, disabling SPAR. On Friday morning Lady Gudny’s stock of fuel filters had run out and the main engine could no longer run, leaving the vessel dead in the water in 3 to 4 metre seas and approximately 50-knot wind speeds.
Lady Gudny’s four crew were airlifted off an taken to Air Station Kodiak, while Coast Guard cutters Hickory and Douglas Munro were launched and cutter Alex Haley has been diverted to the scene to assist the disabled SPAR. Tugs Chahunta and Anna-T are also responding.
