Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Coast Guard Seventeenth District
  United States Coast Guard
News Release Date: July 25, 2009
Contact: Petty Officer 1st Class Sara Francis 
Phone: (907) 321-4501

Coast Guard searching for missing crewmember south of Unimak Island

KODIAK, Alaska – The Coast Guard is searching for a 23-year-old crewmember, nationality unknown, reported to have fallen overboard from the 996-foot container ship Hyundai Tokyo approximately 180 miles south of Unimak Island south of the Aleutian Island Chain Saturday.

The man was last seen aboard the ship at 9:50 a.m. and was reported missing by his roommate several hours later.

The Coast Guard 17th District Rescue Coordination Center in Juneau was notified of the missing man at approximately 4:30 p.m. and issued an urgent marine information broadcast to request the assistance of any vessels in the area. The original call for help came a few minutes earlier from the ship via text message to the Coast Guard command center in Alameda, Calif., and was relayed to the 17th District through the Coast Guard Communications Station in Kodiak.

An HC-130 Hercules aircraft and crew from Air Station Kodiak are on scene. An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and crew, also from Air Station Kodiak, are refueling in Cold Bay and should reach the search area at about 10:30 p.m. The Hyundai Tokyo is retracing its previous course, heading back toward Unimak Island.

Weather conditions in the search area are calm but the winds are expected to increase and build the seas to as much as 10 feet tonight. The water temperature is in the 40s. 

The Hyundai Tokyo is a Great Britain-flagged vessel and was sailing from Oakland, Calif., to Pusan, Korea.

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