According to the information the Coast Guard has started searching for a man overboard from the commercial fishing vessel Rebecca Irene 24 miles southeast of Umnak Island on Saturday, 4 July. It is said that the information of the missing crewmember reached the Coast Guard from the crew of the Rebecca Irene at about 8.45 a.m. on Saturday. Soon after that a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft crew from Air Station Kodiak was launched Saturday morning as well as a MH-65 Dolphin helicopter deployed aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Alex Haley on patrol in the Bering Sea.
Unfortunately the search failed to effect due to poor visibility and vast off-shore distances. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter is being launched from Air Station Kodiak but is several hours away. The crew of the Rebecca Irene is searching in addition to good Samaritans on several other fishing vessels in the area.
Later on Sunday the Coast Guard suspended the search. Rebecca Irene reported the missing man named Nhial Opiew, 38-year-old, at about 8:34 a.m. Saturday. The crew of the Rebecca Irene searched for approximately 14 hours with assistance from two good Samaritan vessels. The combined search effort covered more than 100 square miles.
Lt. Nathaniel Johnson, command duty officer at the District Seventeen Command Center, said that the search was severely hampered by visibility as low as one half mile at sea level throughout the day.
