ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The 55-foot fishing vessel Equinox is safely moored in Seward today after being towed in by the Coast Guard Cutter Mustang.
The Coast Guard received word at 6:38 a.m. Saturday that the vessel experienced an engine failure and was disabled 34 nautical miles south of Montague Island in the Gulf of Alaska with four people onboard.
Sector Anchorage personnel handling the case directed the Mustang to divert from another mission to respond. The Mustang arrived on scene around noon and had the vessel in tow by 1:38 p.m.
Weather conditions for the majority of the transit were favorable. The crew reported unlimited visibility, scattered showers, three-foot seas with six-foot swells and 15-knot winds. Upon turning into Harding Gateway, the channel between Resurrection Bay and Blying Sound, the winds increased to 40 knots and the temperature dropped from 26 degrees Fahrenheit to -12 degrees. They encountered heavy freezing spray and the towline froze but the crew completed the tow without incident.
They arrived safely in Seward at 10:53 a.m. today. The Equinox anchored four miles north of the Seward coal terminal. The Mustang crew conducted a post search-and-rescue boarding on the Equinox and found no discrepancies with their safety equipment and documentation. The Equinox was towed into the harbor and to the dock by the motor vessel Junior.
The fishing vessel Equinox is a 55-foot purse seiner out of Petersburg. The Coast Guard Cutter Mustang is a 110-foot Island Class Patrol Boat out of Seward.
