A fishing trip in the Bering Sea ended in tragedy off Alaska after two boaters were found dead and a third person, a teenager, was pulled to safety from an overturned vessel, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
The search began Monday morning after Alaska State Troopers reported the three boaters missing around 8:30 p.m. Sunday. Their 18-foot fishing boat had been confirmed overdue, but rough weather and low visibility kept Coast Guard crews from launching an immediate search overnight.
According to the Coast Guard, an aircraft later spotted a 15-year-old survivor “clinging on to the capsized vessel” and showing signs of hypothermia. The overturned boat was located roughly 4 miles off the coast of St. Lawrence Island, officials said.
The aircrew helped coordinate the teen’s rescue by dropping a raft and survival gear from above, while directing a nearby good Samaritan vessel to the scene. That boat brought the teenager aboard before departing to refuel. The bodies of the two other boaters were also recovered from the water and taken onto the same vessel, which transported the survivor and the remains to Nome, a port city in western Alaska.
“Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and communities affected by the tragic loss of these two mariners,” Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard’s Arctic District, said in a statement. “We are grateful for the incredible efforts of the motor vessel Northwest Explorer, Federal, State, Village first responders and mission partners who assisted in the effort that resulted in a life saved.”
Officials said the fishing boat had last been seen Friday leaving Savoonga, a community on the northern coast of St. Lawrence Island. It was expected to return to the island at about 3 a.m. Sunday.
St. Lawrence Island, though part of Alaska, sits about 100 miles from the state’s mainland and is geographically closer to Russia across the Bering Strait than to North America. The surrounding stretch of the northern Pacific is known for punishing conditions, with icy waters and severe weather that can become dangerous with little warning.
Authorities have not publicly released the names of the teen or the two boaters who died. The Anchorage Daily News reported, however, that the two victims were the survivor’s brother and cousin.
The surviving teen told the captain of the good Samaritan boat, Adam White, that he had clung to the capsized skiff for several days after it overturned, according to the Anchorage Daily News.
“That is one remarkably tough kid, is all I can say,” White said, according to the newspaper.
