6 PEOPLE RESCUED OFF CAPE FEAR, 3 STILL MISSING CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Coast Guard is currently responding to a distress call from the 135-foot tugboat, Valour, towing a 500-foot barge loaded with approximately 140,000 barrels of petroleum by-product 37 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, N.C. The Valour, radioed the Coast Guard for help at approximately 11:30 p.m. yesterday because they had a crewmember fall overboard, and their vessel was taking on water. A Dolphin HH-65 helicopter from Air Facility Charleston launched to assist, and upon arriving on scene they rescued one crewmember and transported him to Myrtle Beach Hospital, S.C. The remaining eight crewmembers stayed with the struggling vessel until the Justin Fox, a 125-foot tugboat in the area, arrived on scene. The Good Samaritan vessel was able to rescue five more crewmembers before the Valour sank in the 15 to 20-foot seas and gail-force winds. The Coast Guard and Good Samaritan vessels are still searching for the three remaining crewmembers and the 500-foot barge. 6 PEOPLE RESCUED OFF CAPE FEAR, 3 STILL MISSING CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Coast Guard is currently responding to a distress call from the 135-foot tugboat, Valour, towing a 500-foot barge loaded with approximately 140,000 barrels of petroleum by-product 37 miles off the coast of Cape Fear, N.C. The Valour, radioed the Coast Guard for help at approximately 11:30 p.m. yesterday because they had a crewmember fall overboard, and their vessel was taking on water. A Dolphin HH-65 helicopter from Air Facility Charleston launched to assist, and upon arriving on scene they rescued one crewmember and transported him to Myrtle Beach Hospital, S.C. The remaining eight crewmembers stayed with the struggling vessel until the Justin Fox, a 125-foot tugboat in the area, arrived on scene. The Good Samaritan vessel was able to rescue five more crewmembers before the Valour sank in the 15 to 20-foot seas and gail-force winds. The Coast Guard and Good Samaritan vessels are still searching for the three remaining crewmembers and the 500-foot barge.
