Coast Guard suspends search for missing fishermen after boat capsizes off NC coast
The Coast Guard has paused its search for two missing fishermen in the Pamlico Sound after covering more than 1,000 miles over nearly 48 hours.
Two other crewmembers were rescued shortly after their shrimp trawler went down Tuesday, officials said. One of them was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Rescuers continued searching for the missing mariners into the night Tuesday and all day Wednesday before suspending their efforts Thursday, the Coast Guard said in its latest update.
“The marine environment is a dangerous place to work because of the cold water, rough seas and high winds,” Rear Adm. Keith Smith, commander of the Fifth Coast Guard District, said in a statement. “At this point, we’ve decided to suspend further search efforts for the two missing mariners, pending further information.”
Members of the Coast Guard from the Elizabeth City Air Station, the Hatteras Inlet station and the Oregon Inlet station as well as the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission and the N.C. Marine Patrol have combed 1,170 square miles since the search began.
According to an earlier news release, the Coast Guard received a distress signal Tuesday night from the fishing vessel Papa’s Girl.
Two fishermen were located by the aircrew and taken to Sentara Albemarle Hospital in Elizabeth City. One was hypothermic and the other, who required CPR, was pronounced dead at the hospital, according to the release.
Family members told OBX Today one of the rescued men reached a life raft while the other remained in the water.
The Coast Guard conducted a first light search Wednesday “with negative results.”
Citing family members, OBX Today reported the boat sunk between 7 and 8 p.m.
National Weather Service data out of Manteo in Dare County show wind speeds of more than 2o mph in the Outer Banks around that time. The forecast was “partly cloudy and breezy.”
Some gusts were more than 50 mph, OBX Today reported, citing a Weatherflow sensor near the wreck site.
The boat isn’t the first to sink in the sound.
Two commercial fishermen spent the night in its waters when their shrimp boat capsized in 2018, WRAL reported. They clung to a “large floating lid” for 14 hours before the Coast Guard found them.
The Pamlico Sound encompasses much of the Outer Banks’ western coastline from Manteo down to the Cape Lookout National Seashore, according to the OBX Visitor’s Guide. At 80 miles long and about 15 to 20 miles wide, it’s reportedly the largest on the east coast.
The sound is shallow throughout with depths around only five or six feet — “even well off shore,” the guide states.
It’s ideal for small boaters and water sports, according to the guide, but can be difficult for bigger ships to maneuver due to “shifting depths” that “make the waters particularly susceptible to wind and barometric pressure-driven tidal fluctuations.”
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the owner of Papa’s Girl using data from the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. There are two boats with the same name registered to different owners and cities in North Carolina. TownDock.net confirmed the Papa’s Girl that sunk is a 43-foot wooden vessel out of Engelhard.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 1:40 PM with the headline "Coast Guard suspends search for missing fishermen after boat capsizes off NC coast."
