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Scituate boat rescue

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SCITUATE, Mass. —

Three fishermen are recovering from "severe hypothermia" after their vessel sank off the South Shore of Massachusetts, according to officials.

Scituate Town Administrator James Boudreau said the town's emergency dispatch center received a 911 call shortly after 2:35 p.m. Tuesday from a Marshfield woman who reported that she saw a boat sinking off the coast of Humarock Beach.

 

That woman, Pam Harght, told NewsCenter 5's John Atwater that she saw the sinking vessel from her Marshfield home that overlooks the water. She said the boat went down in a matter of about 90 seconds.

"A lot of black smoke and then the boat just disappeared. I was like: 'This is not good,'" Harght said.

Members of the Scituate Harbormaster's Office; Scituate police and fire departments; Marshfield Harbormaster's Office and U.S. Coast Guard responded to the scene.

Scituate Fire Chief John Murphy said first responders were able to confirm that a 55-foot scalloping boat had sunk about a mile offshore.

"We had three victims clinging for life," Murphy said. "They were in the water close to 45 minutes to an hour already."

Murphy said the water temperature was 42 degrees with about 4- to 6-foot seas. The fire chief also noted the fishermen had ingested a lot of water and diesel fuel as they clung to an inflatable black hose, which Murphy said appears to be the type of hose scallop fishermen use to churn up the bottom of the ocean.

Drone video recorded by the Scituate Fire Department showed that the ocean water near the scene had a deep red hue, likely the vessel's diesel fuel.

"It was a tough situation for them. We were fortunate to get all three out," Murphy said.

Two of the fishermen were brought aboard a Scituate Harbormaster's Office boat, while the other was brought aboard a Scituate Police Department rescue boat. Murphy said all three fishermen were brought aboard rescue boats at about 3:10 p.m.

Three ambulances were waiting onshore to provide medical treatment to the fishermen. Murphy said those ambulances ended up transporting the fishermen to South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. Boudreau said the victims' conditions are unknown at this time.

Murphy said Harght was the only person to call 911 to report the sinking fishing vessel and that if she had not made that call, the fishermen likely would not have survived.

"We probably would have found them on the beach tomorrow. Realistically, nobody would have found them," the fire chief said.

"A lot of people say: 'You're a hero. Blah, blah, blah.' I'm not. I'm just glad I made the phone call," Harght said. "I would not sleep tonight knowing otherwise, knowing that nobody else had."

Murphy said all three fishermen are in their 50s, but their names are not being disclosed until their families are notified.

The fishing vessel they were on was a scalloping boat out of Gloucester named the "Bing Bing."

At this time, officials are not sure what caused the vessel to sink, but Murphy believes that it was an event — such as a fire — that caused the boat to begin sinking rather quickly.

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I heard of more than one scallop boat that has rolled because they overloaded the boat.  Its so tempting to make one last drag when the the scallops are thick.

 

Don't know if this was the case in this incident.   Just glad they are all OK.

Does anyone know where the love of God goes when the waves turn the minutes to hours?

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Captains are reluctant to call May days for anything but a clear emergency. Could’ve been a small problem that exploded into a big problem real quick. 
 

And Epirbs aren’t fail safe they can get caught in rigging, etc. They likely take longer to transmit data to the CG than a quick phone call from Pam.

 

Extremely lucky. Probably a matter of minutes before it was too late.

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12 mins ago, Pescador710 said:

Captains are reluctant to call May days for anything but a clear emergency. Could’ve been a small problem that exploded into a big problem real quick. 
 

And Epirbs aren’t fail safe they can get caught in rigging, etc. They likely take longer to transmit data to the CG than a quick phone call from Pam.

 

Extremely lucky. Probably a matter of minutes before it was too late.

Investigation will figure it out. 

The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever~Jacques Yves Cousteau

 

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if they were dragging maybe hung up on something big and a shift in weight on the boat coulda rolled it right over? lucky guys for sure

When we judge or criticize another person, it says nothing about that person;
it merely says something about our own need to be critical.
-Author Unknown-
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