Video: Three Fishermen and a Dog Rescued From Sinking Vessel

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter aircrew rescued three people and a dog from a capsized fishing vessel off Apalachicola, Florida on Thursday. All on board were safely hoisted from the water and delivered to shore, and no injuries were reported. 

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Mobile received a report at 1100 hours Thursday that the fishing vessel Pete's Dream was taking on water at a position about 70 nautical miles off Apalachicola, with three people and one dog on board. While response assets were getting ready to respond to the scene, Sector Mobile received an additional report indicating that the crew had abandoned ship into a liferaft. They had a satellite phone with them and were able to use it to communicate with shore. 

At about 1300 hours, an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew out of Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile spotted the liferaft near the fishing vessel's last known location. A Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from Air Station Clearwater arrived on scene shortly after and deployed a rescue swimmer, who helped the survivors (and the dog) with the rescue basket hoist process. All were delivered safely back to Air Station Clearwater. 

"Abandoning ship into the life raft and bringing a satellite phone was the absolute right decision," said Lt. Cmdr. Corrie Sergent, search and rescue mission coordinator at Sector Mobile. "Thanks to their quick actions, the Coast Guard was able to locate them and bring them safely home to their families."