U.S. Coast Guard Rescues Six From Burning Fishing Vessel

On Sunday, the U.S. Coast Guard rescued six people from a burning trawler off the coast of New Hampshire, including a NOAA fishery observer who was along for the voyage. 

At about 2100 hours, watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Northern New England received a distress call from the trawler Three Girls. The 81-foot vessel was on fire, and the crew was preparing to abandon ship. The personnel included five crewmembers and one fishery observer. 

The Coast Guard diverted the fast response cutter USCGC William Chadwick to the scene, along with a Jayhawk helicopter aircrew and a fixed-wing SAR aircraft. All of these assets arrived on scene at about 2230 hours, along with a good Samaritan fishing vessel, the Princess Laura. By the time they arrived, all six of the survivors from Three Girls were aboard their life raft. The crew of the William Chadwick retrieved them from the water using their launch, and the Jayhawk aircrew waited on standby in case more immediate assistance was needed. 

All of the survivors were safely aboard by 2330 hours, and no significant injuries were reported. By Monday morning, they were on shore again at a pier in South Portland. 

Three Girls (ex name Sammy Jo) was an 81-foot trawler built in 1979. Coast Guard records show that she had a valid COI and no major reported issues aboard, except for an engine failure caused by an improper vendor rebuild in 2022.