Taiwanese fishing vessel rescues crew of sinking Honolulu longliner
A Taiwanese fishing vessel crew and members of the Coast Guard on Oahu worked together to find and rescue the crew of a Honolulu tuna longliner that was sinking 545 miles southwest of Hawaii on Thursday night.
According to a news release from Coast Guard District 14, after a harrowing ordeal at sea, all six crew members of the Sea Smile were in good shape and making their way back to the islands aboard Honolulu longliner Captain Minh as of Friday afternoon.
At 6:46 p.m. Thursday the Coast Guard’s Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watch-standers received a report from the owner of the Sea Smile stating the vessel was disabled and taking on water. The crew said they had taken on five to seven feet of water in the engine room and fish holds, that water was rapidly rising, and loss of power had disabled the vessel’s dewatering pumps.
