Searchers from the U.S. Coast Guard Tuesday found the body of a Puerto Rican man, one of three who fell into the ocean in a Monday boating accident. The search continued late Tuesday afternoon for the third man.
According to Ricardo Castrodad, public information officer for the U.S. Coast Guard in Puerto Rico, the three men, living on St. Croix while working for Hovensa, were fishing in a 14-foot recreational boat Monday afternoon. They reportedly fell into the water at approximately 5 p.m., when they lost control of their vessel when it went into a spiral.
The accident occurred in the waters south of St. Croix’s Henry E. Rohlsen Airport.
None of the three were wearing life jackets, Castrodad said.
One of the three was able to swim to shore, spending two hours in the water, and was able to call 911, according to the Coast Guard report. The Emergency Services operator called the Coast Guard at 9:12 p.m.
Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen in Aguadilla, Puerto Rico, launched an HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, while Coast Guard Boat Forces in Saint Croix launched a 25-foot response boat to search for the two remaining boaters.
The crew of a Coast Guard helicopter located the boat, right-side up, at about 12:15 a.m. Tuesday, in waters approximately 4.5 nautical miles southwest of Rohlsen Airport. However, they found no sign of the missing boaters.
The crew of a Boat Forces Saint Croix response boat located and recovered one of the boaters, deceased, from the water at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, in waters approximately 2.5 nautical miles southwest of Rohlsen Airport.
Coast Guard rescue personnel, joined by St. Croix’s Blue Lightning Maritime Police, continued to search aggressively for the remaining boater with helicopters, a fixed-wing plane and boats. The search was still ongoing at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
The name of the three boaters had not been released as of late Tuesday afternoon, Castrodad said, pending notification of the next of kin.
