Watchstanders aboard U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy (WAGB 20) observe the Norwegian Coast Guard Vessel Svalbard breaking ice in the Barents Sea Sept. 27, 2023. U.S. Coast Guard Photo
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended its extensive 24-hour search for five missing people after their vessel, the Wind Walker, capsized near Couverden Point, Alaska.
“We stand in sorrow and solidarity with the friends and family of the people we were not able to find over the past 24 hours,” said Chief Warrant Officer James Koon, search and rescue mission coordinator at Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska.
The incident began when Coast Guard watchstanders received a mayday call on Sunday at 12:07 a.m. on VHF-FM channel 16, with the Wind Walker’s crew reporting their vessel was overturning. An emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert was also detected south of Point Couverden in Icy Strait.
Search efforts, covering over 108 square nautical miles, involved multiple Coast Guard assets and the Alaska Marine Highway System motor vessel Hubbard. Seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights were discovered in the search area.
The operation was conducted amid challenging weather conditions, including heavy snow, winds reaching 45-60 mph, and 6-foot seas.
This incident adds to a series of tragic events in Alaska’s commercial fishing industry. Recent years have seen similar accidents, including the 2019 New Year’s Eve sinking of F/V Scandies Rose, which claimed the lives of 5 of 7 crew members, and the 2017 F/V Destination disaster, resulting in the loss of all six persons aboard. Both accidents are attributed, at least in part, to ice accumulation.
The NTSB has previously issued safety alerts regarding ice accumulation dangers, highlighting the ongoing challenges faced by mariners in Alaskan waters.
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