U.S. Coast Guard District 8
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Coast Guard crews continue to respond to a fishing vessel fire approximately 40 miles east of Port Isabel, Texas, Friday evening.
The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Coho remains on scene and is closely monitoring the status of the vessel to mitigate any potential environmental hazards.
The Coast Guard has opened the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund and is working with T&T Marine Salvage to extinguish the fire and remove any oil discharged from the vessel.
A 500-yard safety zone remains in effect around the Master D. The vessel has approximately 23,000 gallons of diesel fuel and 300 gallons of lube oil onboard.
“Our primary focus remains on the safety of our response personnel and mitigating any possible pollution threat,” said Capt. Edward Gaynor, Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi commanding officer.
Friday morning, Eighth Coast Guard District watchstanders in New Orleans received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from the fishing vessel Master D, which provided an approximate location of the vessel.
Marine Safety Detachment Brownsville deployed personnel and coordinated initial response efforts.
Coast Guard Sector/Air Station Corpus Christi watchstanders diverted the Coast Guard Cutter Coho to the location. The Coho crew located the fishing vessel on fire, as well as the three-person crew in a life raft nearby and transferred them aboard the cutter.
A Coast Guard Station South Padre Island boat crew transferred the crewmembers from the Coho back to their station.
All crewmembers are accounted for and there were no reports of injuries.
