Coast Guard Continues Search For 6 People Off Galveston

The U.S. Coast Guard on Monday continued to search for six missing fishermen  after receiving a mayday call Sunday from the captain of a sinking ship.

The call to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Houston-Galveston operations center cam about 1:15 p.m. and said the boat was taking on water. The captain was unable to report the vessel’s exact location, but said he was near an entrance, presumably to the ship channel.

Poor radio transmission quality made it difficult to understand the vessel’s name, which is either Scallywag or Skylark. The captain reported that six people had abandoned ship and entered an orange life raft. He described the vessel as purple and blue with a white stripe.

As of Monday, there had been no reports of missing people, but the Coast Guard was using two response boats, two cutters, an aircraft and helicopter to search a Delaware-sized section of the Gulf of Mexico.

Although the Coast Guard was unable to verify the mayday, which could possibly be a hoax, Petty Officer Richard Brahm said they would continue to search until the probability of survival had diminished. Anyone with knowledge of the vessel or crew was asked to contact the Coast Guard command center.

The maritime attorneys of Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P., Accident & Injury Lawyers have more than 45 years of experience in maritime injury claims.