Coast Guard searches for 6 after getting mayday call
Coast Guard officials are searching for six people who reportedly abandoned a sinking fishing boat near Galveston on Sunday.
Watchstanders got a mayday call from the captain of a fishing boat, named either Scallywag or Skylark, about 1:15 p.m. The captain said the boat was taking on water and the six people aboard were getting into an orange life raft.
The Coast Guard is using several boats and aircraft to search thousands of square miles, roughly the size of Delaware, for the boat and the six passengers.
In the distress call, the captain described the boat as purple and blue with a white stripe.
Officials said the signal from the boat was weak and intermittent.
"We're about probably two miles from the channel," the captain said in the distress call.
The transmission cut off before the Coast Guard could get a specific location. The captain had reported that the boat's electronics were down.
"Nobody has come forward just yet reporting hearing anything or seeing anything out on the water," Petty Officer 1st Class David Sassner said.
There are several channels off the coast, and the Coast Guard does not know which one the captain was referring to.
"It's extremely difficult given a very large search area and very limited communication," Sassner said.
Coast Guard officials said they do not know who the men are. They also do not know where the boat was headed or where it set sail from.
Officials said it is possible that the men made it to land but did not call the Coast Guard back to report that they are safe.
Anyone with information about the boat or the passengers is asked to call the Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston at 713-678-9011.
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