Photo: Coast Guard Station Ketchikan (left) and Coast Guard Cutter Adelie (center) boat crews assisted in dewatering and towing a fishing vessel that began taking on water near Ketchikan, Alaska, Aug. 28, 2019. The Adelie crew were able to control the flooding and assisted in towing the vessel to a nearby boat ramp for repairs. U.S. Coast Guard courtesy photo.

JUNEAU, Alaska — The Coast Guard Cutter Adelie and Station Ketchikan boat crews responded to and assisted in dewatering and towing a fishing vessel that hit a rock near Percy Islands, Wednesday.

The Cutter Adelie boat crew arrived on scene at 11:20 a.m., controlled the flooding and assisted in towing the vessel to a nearby boat ramp for repairs.

At approximately 8 a.m., Coast Guard Sector Juneau Command Center watchstanders received a call from the Station Ketchikan boat crew, reporting the fishing vessel Jacklynn May had hit a rock and was taking on water. Sector personnel established communications with the Jacklynn May and confirmed the vessel was in distress with two people aboard.

The watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast, launched the Station Ketchikan crew, diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Adelie to assist and also requested help from Coast Guard Air Station Sitka.

The Station Ketchikan boat crew, aboard a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium, arrived on scene to assist Alaska Wildlife troopers and a good Samaritan vessel, Trident.

The mariners aboard the flooding fishing vessel were found in their life raft and in good condition when rescue assets arrived. The Trident crew rescued them from their raft and took them aboard.

The water appeared to be entering the fishing vessel through a one-inch hole in the bow.

At 9:11 a.m., the station boat crew delivered a P-6 pump to the fishing vessel to help remove water, but that pump failed.

“We arrived on scene and two of our crewmembers took two additional pumps aboard the vessel,” said Coast Guard Senior Chief Michael Thayer, officer in charge, Coast Guard Cutter Adelie, an 87-foot patrol boat from Port Angeles, Wash. “Once the flooding was controlled, the Coast Guard members stuffed blankets and wedges into the hole to slow the water.”

The fishing vessel Ocean Harvester towed the Jacklynn May to a boat ramp at Tent Point on Annette Island.

The vessel was then transferred to a side tow with the Cutter Adelie’s small boat and taken to the boat ramp.

The Jacklynn May’s hole was patched with resin at the boat ramp. The vessel’s owner waited until high tide and worked with the Metlakatla fire and police departments, using a skiff to tow the vessel to a nearby dock.

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