Dramatic video shows 3 fishermen clinging to buoy off Nantucket rescued by Coast Guard helicopter crew

Three fishermen who were not wearing life jackets were plucked alive from ocean waters by the Coast Guard five miles east of Nantucket off the Cape Cod coast this weekend, officials said Tuesday.

At about 12:48 p.m. on Saturday, the First Coast Guard District command center received an alert from an emergency radio beacon registered to the 55-foot commercial fishing vessel Miss Kara.

A Jayhawk helicopter crew based out of Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and a 47-foot lifeboat crew based out of Coast Guard Station Brandt Point in Nantucket responded. Just after 2 p.m. the Jayhawk crew discovered all three fishermen clinging to a buoy.

The three were safely hoisted aboard the helicopter and flown to Hyannis Airport, where they were treated by emergency medical workers.

A video released by the Coast Guard show the men being pulled onto the helicopter one by one as it hovered above the Atlantic waters.

Air Station Cape Cod and Station Brant Point responded to the sinking of the fishing vessel - Miss Kara after an EPIRB alert. MH-60 crew members rescued three fishermen 5 miles off the coast of Nantucket from the water on Saturday August 5.https://t.co/V7AQarPCl6

— USCGNortheast (@USCGNortheast) August 7, 2023

The emergency beacon was crucial to the rescue, according to Lt. Cmdr. Kristi Butler, search and rescue coordinator for the First Coast Guard District.

"This positive outcome demonstrates the importance of maintaining vital lifesaving equipment onboard your vessel," Butler said.

The rescue came on the same day that a 25-year-old man was saved from his partially submerged fishing boat after being stranded at sea for over 24 hours off the Florida coast. Charles Gregory's father told CNN that his son "struggled to stay alive" as he spotted sharks and endured jellyfish stings while exposed to the hot Florida sun.

Fishermen have been plucked from the Atlantic Ocean near Nantucket before. In 2019, a fisherman was rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter about 120 nautical miles off the island. In 2014, Coast Guard crew members rescued four fishermen about 25 miles southeast of Nantucket, after their boat started taking on water.

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• Rescue
• United States Coast Guard
• Nantucket News