Sea Tow marine salvage floated the sunken vessel to the surface last week.
Sea Tow marine salvage vessels from St. Thomas were seen off Steven’s Cay on Wednesday, March 21, floating a vessel which had sunk earlier in the week.
The marine accident actually occurred on Tuesday night, March 20, around 9:30 p.m. off Pillsbury Sound in St. Thomas waters when a commercial fishing vessel and a recreational power boat collided, explained U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson Ricardo Castrodad.
“One vessel was the Double Header, a six-passenger commercial fishing boat and the other vessel was the Little Mr. B, a recreational power boat,” said Castrodad. “The two boats collided off Pillsbury Sound, St. Thomas.”
Double Header was carrying two crew members and two passengers, one of whom was injured during the collision, according to Castrodad.
“One passenger aboard Double Header sustained injuries and he was taken to the hospital,” said the USCG spokesperson. “After the accident, the vessel motored to a docking area to transfer the patient to EMS and then the vessel was taken to dry dock.”
“The passenger sustained a head injury, and while it was serious enough for him to be taken to the hospital, I don’t know his medical assessment,” said Castrodad.
USCG officials were notified after the incident occurred and did not launch a rescue operation, Castrodad added.
Double Header sustained damage to its bow anchor, pulpit, hull and port side, according to the USCG spokesperson.
There were four passengers aboard Little Mr. B at the time of the collision, who were eventually rescued after the vessel sunk while limping back to Cruz Bay, explained Castrodad.
“The Little Mr. B obviously sustained significant damage because after the collision, they tried to motor the boat back to St. John, and it sunk near Steven’s Cay in about 90 feet of water,” he said.
The passengers aboard Little Mr. B were rescued by a good samaritan in the area, according to Castrodad.
The vessel was not leaking oil or diesel and was floated to the surface by Sea Tow on Wednesday, March 21, Castrodad added.
The USCG spokesperson did not have information about the exact size and descriptions of the two vessels last week.
USCG officials are conducting an investigation into the accident, Castrodad explained.
“We have an investigation that is ongoing right now,” he said. “We are going to look into this matter and conduct interviews with the people aboard both vessels.”
