HONOLULU (AP) — A crew of 36 people from Papua New Guinea spent more than 10 hours on life rafts and small skiffs after their 229-foot fishing vessel caught fire in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday.
HONOLULU (AP) — A crew of 36 people from Papua New Guinea spent more than 10 hours on life rafts and small skiffs after their 229-foot fishing vessel caught fire in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean on Saturday.
The U.S. Coast Guard says the fishing crew abandoned ship and was rescued by good Samaritans with the assistance of a Hawaii-based Coast Guard aircraft.
Video from the Coast Guard shows the U.S. aircrew circling the burning vessel and dropping drinking water to the fishermen below. The rescue team asked for assistance from another nearby ship and then dropped smoke signals to help guide them to the stranded mariners.
The boat was about 2,000 miles southwest of Hawaii when it caught fire. The entire crew was rescued and no one was injured.
