Four crewmembers aboard the Sea Cypress put together to disembark the sinking tug and climb aboard a Sabine Pilot boat on the mouth of the Sabine Pass Ship Channel, March 31, 2023. [U.S. Coast Guard photo]
The Coast Guard assisted 4 individuals aboard a sinking tugboat taking over water in Sabine Pass, Texas, Friday.
Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston command heart watchstanders obtained notification at 5:38 a.m. that the crew of the Sea Cypress, a 71-foot tug, hailed mayday on VHF-FM channel 13 and reported that the vessel was capsizing whereas moored close to the mouth of the Sabine Pass channel.
Watchstanders issued an pressing marine info broadcast and directed the launch of a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Sabine.
An on-scene Sabine Pilot boat operator reported that two of the Sea Cypress crew used a handheld torch to chop a gap within the bulkhead and free two crewmen trapped within the partially submerged vessel’s galley. The Coast Guard boat crew arrived on scene, took aboard the 4 tugboat crewmen and introduced them ashore to Station Sabine.
Jefferson County EMS personnel assessed the 4 mariners and transported them to Southeast Texas Medical Center in Port Arthur, Texas, in steady situation.
“We are glad that the tugboat crew was able to think outside the box and that we were able to quickly get all four of them to safety,” stated Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Ian Murray, search and rescue mission coordinator, Sector Houston-Galveston.
According to its Morgan City, La.-based operator, Garber Bros Inc., the Sea Cypress is a 2014-built, 2,400 hp class offshore tug.
