Six rescued from burning fishing vessel off New Hampshire

The US Coast Guard rescued six people after a boat fire led to them abandoning ship 105 nautical miles east of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on Sunday, August 11.

The fishing vessel Three Girls, an 81-foot (25-metre) trawler, had four crewmembers, the captain, and an NOAA observer on board.

At 20:56 local time on Sunday, Coast Guard Sector Northern New England command center watchstanders received a mayday call from the trawler stating that it was on fire and the crew were making preparations to abandon ship. The First Coast Guard District command center also received an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon from the vessel.

At 21:00, Sector Northern New England diverted the fast response cutter USCGC William Chadwick to respond. An MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew and a HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod were launched to provide aerial support.

At 22:30, all coast guard assets along with Three Girls' sister ship, the fishing vessel Princess Laura, arrived on scene and confirmed that all six people were on board a life raft. William Chadwick launched a small boat to recover the survivors while the MH-60 Jayhawk waited on standby if immediate medical care was needed.

At 23:30, all six survivors were recovered on board William Chadwick. No major injuries were reported.

On the morning of Monday, August 12, the crew of William Chadwick transferred the survivors to a pier in South Portland.