KODIAK, Alaska — The Coast Guard, Alaska State Troopers, local search and rescue and the crew of the tug Naniq responded to a disabled vessel near Kotzebue, Alaska, Wednesday.
The Naniq crew provided gas and a battery to the disabled vessel and escorted them back to Kotzebue.
Alaska State Troopers contacted Coast Guard 17th District command center watchstanders to request aerial assistance to help locate three women and a child aboard a disabled 24-foot aluminum Harbercraft. The mariners were traveling from Buckland to Kotzebue when the weather turned bad and they attempted to return to Buckland but had run out of gas.
A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew launched and were conducting a search of the area when Alaska State Troopers reported the crew of the tug Naniq had located the missing boaters.
The Jayhawk helicopter crew rendezvoused with the crew of the tug and barge Naniq who reported the vessel had lost power and run out of gas.
The helicopter crew remained on scene while the Naniq crew assisted the disabled boaters.
“This case illustrates how invaluable good Samaritans and our local and state agencies are to the Coast Guard,” said Adam De Rocher, a watchstander at Coast Guard 17th District command center. “Without our partners we wouldn’t have been able to locate and provide assistance to the mariners in their time of need.”
Weather at the time of the incident was reported as 3- to 5-foot seas and 17 mph winds.
