Five people were rescued after a tug towing a barge ran aground in Sumner Strait.
Search and rescue controllers at Coast Guard Sector Juneau said they received a report from the tug Ocean Eagle at about 7 p.m. Wednesday.
A Coast Guard H-60 helicopter crew flew slowly and carefully in Wednesday evening’s bad weather to approach the area near Mariposa Reef on the south side of Strait Island in Sumner Strait.
The five crew members from the tug evacuated to the barge so the helicopter crew could safely hoist them aboard. They were taken back to Sitka at about midnight Wednesday.
No injuries were reported.
Coast Guard officials did not immediately know why the tug Ocean Eagle ran aground.
After the rescue, the 102-foot tug and the 300-foot barge drifted to nearby Alvin Bay. The Coast Guard cutters Liberty and Maple later arrived on scene with pollution response equipment to assess any damage and verify nearby aids to navigation.
The Coast Guard reports that commercial tugs contracted by the Ocean Eagle’s owner are also on scene to dewater, effect repairs and mitigate potential pollution.
