Trinity II's lifeboat found in Gulf of Mexico, at least 3 reported dead

A Mexican Navy helicopter hovers above the abandoned Trinity II. Photo courtesy Mexican Navy

Mexican state-owned petroleum company Pemex reported Sunday that 7 of the ten missing persons from the abandoned Trinity IIhave been found alive in the Southern Gulf of Mexico. Pemex also says that, sadly, rescuers recovered two bodies, and one remains missing.

The crew was reportedly found floating about 51 miles east-northeast of the Cayo Arc oil terminal, and was airlifted to a Pemex hospital in Ciudad del Carmen.

Search and rescue operations were conducted by Pemex and the Mexican Navy, and included helicopters, planes, the offshore vessel Rem Forza, Bourbon Artavaze, the Osa Goliat, and the Mexican vessel Isla del Toro. Today, search and rescue continues for the one still missing.

The 10 man crew of the jackup liftboat Trinity II, which was contracted to Houston-based Geokinetics, were forced to abandon ship Thursday afternoon into a liferaft as a result of rough seas caused by Tropical Storm Nate.

The Trinity II is owned by Trinity Liftboat Services based in New Iberia, LA and was supporting a project in the Bay of Campeche when the incident occurred.

UPDATE: The Associated Press has reported that one of the seven workers found alive died Sunday night.