Over A Dozen People Missing After Boat Capsizes In The Gulf Of Mexico

A rescue operation is underway after a commercial ship capsized off the coast of Louisiana. There were 19 people on the 129-foot lift boat when it flipped over about eight miles south of Port Fourchon in the Gulf of Mexico.

The ship sent a distress call around 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday (April 13) amid rough seas and high winds, which were gusting between 70-80 mph. Nearby vessels rushed over to help and managed to pull four people from the water. The Coast Guard cutter Glenn Harris arrived about 30 minutes later and managed to rescue one person, while a second crew of rescuers were able to save another person.

The other 13 people on the ship are still missing.

Several Coast Guard ships, along with a helicopter and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi are trying to find other survivors.

According to Nola.com, the ship was named Seacor Power and is an offshore construction jack-up crane barge. The vessel carries 40,500 gallons of fuel oil and it is unknown how much of the oil may have seeped into the water. The vessel's owner, Seacor Marine, has not commented on the capsizing.

On Wednesday, officials said they recovered one body near the vessel and are continuing to search for the other 12 people who remain missing.

"Unfortunately, we have recovered one individual on the surface of the water who was deceased, and the search effort continues for the remaining 12," Will Watson, the sector commander of Coast Guard Sector New Orleans, said. "My heart and the collective heart of our team goes out to the families and to Seacor, but we are giving it all we have."

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard


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