Lobster fishermen rescued after losing steering ability during storm with 15-foot waves off Cape Cod, dramatic video shows
Four fishermen and a dog were dramatically rescued from stormy waters off the coast of Cape Cod when they lost steering capabilities, startling footage shows.
Two unidentified crew members were rescued by helicopter from the 65-foot “Two Dukes” vessel Tuesday after a storm with 15-foot waves blew out their steering capability and the pilothouse windows, the latter of which injuring the captain.
The boat’s master and first mate remained onboard to assist in towing the vessel to shore, the US Coast Guard Northeast revealed on Facebook.
Harrowing footage released by the agency shows a Coast Guard member plunging into the freezing waters and swimming toward the distressed vessel as it rocked harshly in the waves.
The video cuts to show the first fisherman being lifted up to the MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter. A second crew member was saved moments later.
“With the boat being dead in the water and caught between multiple shoals it was the largest sea state I have seen in my four years here and definitely the most aggressive I have ever been in being a newly certified heavy weather coxswain,” Chad Austin, boatswain’s mate at USCG’s Station Brant Point, told the Nantucket Current.
Austin and another rescuer secured a line to the boat and helped tow it and the two remaining crew members and dog to Vineyard Haven on Martha’s Vineyard.
Nantucket Harbormaster Sheila Lucey, who used to be former senior chief at Station Brant Point, called the rescue “absolutely heroic.”
“The conditions were horrendous and they performed flawlessly … We haven’t had a case like that in years. The training under current leadership at the station has paid off. They are out there every single time the weather gets rough and the crew they rescued were the beneficiaries of their hard work and dedication,” she told the local outlet.
The rescue crew had been training in the rough waters the day before to prepare for missions like this one.
The Post has reached out to the US Coast Guard for comment.
Rough waters have proven difficult for more than just these fishermen this week.
In the North Sea, a Norwegian cruise ship with 299 passengers and more than 100 crew members had to put out a mayday call after losing electricity and navigation Thursday.
Catriona MacRae, 43, told The Post Friday that a rogue wave “exploded” against the side of the ship during the storm. Minutes later, passengers were ordered to go to the muster stations and put on survival suits and life vests for several hours while they rode out the storm.
The boat was rerouted to Germany and injuries were “minimal,” according to McRae.
