Search started for missing freighter crewman

The Coast Guard says a crewman from a container ship remains missing on Wednesday after a search overnight in the North Pacific.

The crewman, identified only as an Indian national, is believed to have gone overboard from the 952-foot container ship APL Hamburg. The vessel was about 107 miles north of Kiska about 4 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon when the crew reported the man as missing.

A Coast Guard C-130 aircraft was dispatched to the area and searched for about 2 1/2 hours late Tuesday night and early Wednesday morning. The crewman was not found.

Watchstanders at the Coast Guard’s search and rescue command center in Juneau said the APL Hamburg is temporarily remaining on scene and several Good Samaritan vessels are also assisting in the search.

It is not known how the crewman went missing or how he may’ve been carried overboard.

Conditions in the area on Tuesday were reported at 20-foot seas, 40-knot winds, and rain and snow.

The Coast Guard says the vessel was on its way from Asia to California. According to the website MarineTraffic.com, the APL Hamburg was most recently in Xiamen, China.

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