2 men rescued after fishing boat capsizes off Kodiak

Two men survived the sinking of a fishing boat in the Gulf of Alaska on Wednesday, authorities said.

The men climbed into a life raft after their boat began taking on water about 23 miles southeast of Kodiak and were rescued by a good Samaritan vessel in the area, according to accounts provided by Alaska State Troopers and the U.S. Coast Guard Thursday.

One crew member showed signs of hypothermia and a head injury, according to the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard officials said watchstanders picked up a distress signal from the fishing vessel Tanusha’s emergency position indicating radio beacon just before 10 a.m. Wednesday. They launched a helicopter from Kodiak and asked for help from the troopers, and also radioed vessels near the distress signal, the Coast Guard said.

The crabbing vessel Victory heard the request and found the overturned boat, authorities said.

Crew aboard the Victory rescued the two men from the water and brought them to a trooper patrol vessel, troopers said.

The Coast Guard said the crew of an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter hoisted the two fishermen with the help of the trooper vessel Stimson, and transported them to emergency medical services personnel in Kodiak in stable condition.

The Stimson was underway on the east side of Kodiak for a commercial Tanner crab fishery enforcement patrol when they were contacted by the Coast Guard, a troopers spokesman said.

Coast Guard officials on Thursday credited the EPIRB aboard the capsized vessel as a lifesaving piece of equipment because it was the only notification they got that the crew needed help.

The Tanusha is a 58-foot diesel-powered vessel, according to a state records database. The owners couldn’t immediately be reached Thursday.

The cause of the incident remains under investigation, a Coast Guard spokesperson said.