May 11, 2015
BOSTON — Coast Guard crews rescued a 28-year-old man from a 16-foot boat after it starting sinking in Boston Harbor tonight.
At about 6:30 p.m., watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Boston received a distress call via the Massachusetts State Police that the man’s boat was rapidly flooding between Deer Island and Long Island.
The command center launched a 45-foot Response Boat crew from Station Boston who arrived on scene at 6:48 p.m. to find the man perched on the bow. By then, much of the small boat was submerged, but it did not sink completely.
The rescue crew safely transported him the response boat and took him to shore at Winthrop Landing. Simultaneously, a commercial tow service brought his boat ashore.
"This rescue absolutely underscores the value of inter-agency coordination,” said Lt. Kristina Butler, command duty officer at Sector Boston. She said the mariner initially called 911, where the operator quickly patched in Massachusetts State Police, who then had the Coast Guard on the line in seconds.
Weather on scene was 8-knot winds and 2-foot seas. The air temperature was 48 degree fahrenheit, the water 50 degrees.