VESSEL SINKS NORTH OF DUNGENESS SPIT, SEQUIM, WA, AFTER TWO CREWMEMBERS ABOARD RESCUED BY COAST GUARD

At 7:31 am on October 17, 2014, the owner of the 67-foot recreational vessel LADY A made a we’re-abandoning-ship distress call to the Coast Guard in Port Angeles, WA. The Coast Guard immediately sent a response boat and helicopter to the sinking boat located north of the Dungeness Spit in Sequim, WA. The crew of TOKYO EXPRESS, a 664-foot tanker traveling through the Strait of Juan de Fuca, also sent a response boat to assist. Both response boats arrived at the LADY A around 8:10 am and found the man and woman, local residents of the area, still on their boat. They were transferred to the Coast Guard response boat and taken to the Port Angeles station. Neither crewmember was injured, the Coast Guard reported.

Lady A reportedly sank in 180 feet of water with approximately 700 gallons of diesel on board. No sheen has been reported. Pollution responders from the Coast Guard’s incident management division have been notified and are working with the vessel owner and the Washington State Department of Ecology to decide if the vessel can be salvaged. It is unknown at this time why the boat sank.