Office of External Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard

Date: May 10, 2008

Contact:  Lt.j.g. Issac Mahar
(251) 379-0492

COAST GUARD RESCUES 15 PEOPLE FROM BOAT FIRE 

***MEDIA NOTE*** No video of the rescue is available.  

MOBILE, Ala. - The Coast Guard rescued 15 people from the 46-foot vessel, the Viking, after it caught fire with 17 people aboard in Bon Seceour Bay near the Intracoastal Waterway at approximately 7:30 p.m., today. 

A watchstander from Coast Guard Sector Mobile recieved a call from a passenger on the Viking, at 6:45 p.m., reporting a fire aboard vessel and that the boat's crew had deployed a life raft.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile launched a 41-foot utility boat from Station Dauphin Island and a HH-65C rescue helicopter and crew from Air Station New Orleans.

The 41-foot utility boat recovered 15 people and transported them to Station Dauphin Island, and Sea Tow recovered the other two people and transported them to Dog River. 

No injuries were reported.

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U.S. Coast Guard - Saving lives since 1790