Fishing Boat Captain Dives In to Rescue Crewmember

On Monday afternoon, the captain of a capsized fishing vessel jumped out of a boat and back into the water to save a member of his crew. 

The small purse seine boat Grayling was fishing for salmon about 30 nm to the northwest of Kodiak, Alaska at the time of the accident. She began taking on water for unknown reasons, and she started to sink by the stern. Two other boats were nearby and responded to Grayling's distress. The boat Calista Marie offered to use her skiff to tow the Grayling towards a nearby shore, but during the trip, the Grayling capsized with four crewmembers on board. 

The Grayling's captain, Christian Trosvig, and one other crewmember managed to get out and onto the Grayling's seine skiff, and the Calista Marie picked up a third crewmember. The fourth fisherman was nowhere to be seen. 

After about 20 minutes, the missing man came into view, and Trosvig jumped off the skiff and swam about 50 yards to reach him. Another boat came alongside and helped Trosvig pull the man out of the water. Seas were roughly five feet at the scene, with winds at about 15 knots. The water temperature was 47 degrees F. 

A Coast Guard helicopter diverted from a training flight to assist, and its crew captured the moment on video. "It's a testament to how tough those fishermen are and how far they will go to help their fellow Alaskans," said pilot Lt. Kevin Riley in a statement. 

After the rescue, Trosvig administered CPR to revive the victim. The Coast Guard later evacuated the man for treatment, and a spokesman said Tuesday that he survived. 

In a brief post on Facebook Tuesday, Trosvig said that he had lost his twin brother to the sea, and he was not going to let it happen again. "To God be the glory for giving the courage and strength to get my man out of the water and bring him back to life," he wrote.