NEW ORLEANS — The Coast Guard is searching for an overdue diver 55 miles offshore Grand Isle, Saturday.
Missing is Tim Raines, 56.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector New Orleans received a relay on VHF-FM radio from the vessel Early Life Crisis reporting a diver who was overdue by 30 minutes.
Watchstanders received a report from the brother of a passenger aboard the vessel who reported that the diver was spear fishing when he was washed out of the rig by the undertow and surfaced about 40 feet behind the dive vessel. As the diver started swimming toward the dive vessel, he went under the water and never resurfaced. Watchstanders continue to gather additional information surrounding the details of the case.
Sector New Orleans issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and dispatched the following assets to aid in the search:
- MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crews from Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans;
- HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft crews from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile, Ala.;
- The 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Pelican;
- A 45-foot Response Boat - Medium from Coast Guard Station Grand Isle.