Search for Missing Fishing Boat Crew Suspended

Casualty and pollution investigators from Coast Guard Sector Portland were dispatched to Tillamook to investigate the capsizing and a sheen of diesel fuel that appeared in the water.

In this image released by the Coast Guard, the wreckage of the 42-foot crab boat Network rests below the waves at the north jetty in Tillamook, Ore. The vessel capsized with three people aboard Friday, November 28. 2008. (U.S. Coast Guard/Air Station Astoria)

(TILLAMOOK, Ore.) - The search for two men near the north jetty of Tillamook Bay, Oregon, was suspended Friday at 4:31 PM, Coast Guard officials report.

They say the two men were part of a crew from the 42-foot crab boat Network from Garibaldi, Oregon, that capsized and broke up at 7:42 AM.

Coast Guard crews including two 47-foot motor lifeboat crews from Station Tillamook Bay, and three HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews from Air Station Astoria, searched 15 square miles for seven hours in order to locate the men.

The capsizing was initially reported by a Coast Guard 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Station Tillamook Bay that witnessed the event. One of the three men aboard the vessel was able to swim to shore where he was taken to the Tillamook hospital by fire crews from Rockaway Beach and Garibaldi. Contrary to previous reports, none of the men were wearing lifejackets.

Casualty and pollution investigators from Coast Guard Sector Portland were dispatched to Tillamook to investigate the capsizing and a sheen of diesel fuel that appeared in the water. It is estimated 400 gallons of fuel were on board the vessel.

The Coast Guard advises all boaters to wear lifejackets whenever aboard a vessel. Lifejackets greatly improve the chances of survival of somebody stranded in the water.

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

Here is the link to our first report on the capsizing of the Network: Two Men Remain Missing After Boat Capsizes at Tillamook Bay