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U.S. Coast Guard photos courtesy of Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles.
SEATTLE — The Coast Guard rescued two people after their vessel began taking on water north of Dungeness Spit, Sequim, Friday.
A 45-foot Response Boat — Medium crew from Coast Guard Station Port Angeles took the man and woman, both local residents, to the station. They did not require medical attention.
Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Puget Sound in Seattle received a distress call on VHF-FM channel 16 around 7:31 a.m. from the owner of the 67-foot recreational vessel Lady A reporting that they were abandoning ship into their life raft.
Sector Puget Sound watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast to alert vessels in the area of the distress situation.
Sector Puget Sound watchstanders directed the launch of the RB-M crew at 7:40 a.m. in response. An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles also launched shortly after.
The crew of Tokyo Express, a 664-foot tanker vessel transiting the area, also launched a small boat crew to assist.
The RB-M and Tokyo Express crews arrived on scene around 8:09 a.m. and found the two people still aboard the Lady A.
Both people were transferred to the RB-M and taken to Station Port Angeles.
The Lady A reportedly sank in 180 feet of water with an estimated 700 gallons of diesel aboard. No sheen has been reported. The vessel is not a hazard to navigation.
Pollution responders from Sector Puget Sound’s incident management division have been notified and are working with the owner of the vessel and the Washington State Department of Ecology to determine if the vessel can be salvaged.