HOUSTON — Coast Guard air and boat crews rescued two men who made a distress call when their boat started sinking 6 miles off Galveston Monday morning.
Rescued were Eugenio Suarez and Julio Suarez.
At 9:16 am., Eugenio used his cell phone to call the Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders saying, "Help, my boat is going down 10 miles off the Galveston Jetties. I'm going in. There's two of us, me and my father."
Watchstanders launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew and a Station Galveston 45-foot response boat crew to the scene and issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to alert local mariners.
At 10:03 a.m., another Station Galveston boat crew was nearby and conducting a routine boarding when they spotted Eugenio on top of his capsized boat. They vectored the response boat crew to the scene to rescue him.
The aircrew spotted his father 50 yards away and lowered the rescue swimmer to assist him until the boat crew was able to pick him up. The boat crew took both men back to Station Galveston, where they were met my local EMS. No injuries were reported.
"Life jackets were instrumental in today's rescue," said Chief Warrant Officer Michael Henry, command duty officer at Sector Houston-Galveston. "Staying with the boat is very important and folks have a better chance of being found if they stay with the boat."
The owners are coordinating salvage operations with Sea Tow.