US trying to rescue 24 fishing crew on remote Pacific atoll

Wellington, January 3

The US Coast Guard says a large fishing boat has run aground on a remote Pacific atoll and it’s trying to rescue the 24 crew members who made it to shore in a lifeboat.

The Coast Guard says the 308-foot Chinese-flagged vessel Ou Ya Leng No. 6 reportedly grounded Wednesday on uninhabited Taka Atoll in the Marshall Islands.

The Coast Guard says it’s sending the crew of a HC-130 Hercules plane and is working with three nearby fishing boats and the government of the Marshall Islands. The Coast Guard says it doesn’t yet know what caused the accident, the crew’s nationalities, or the status of the boat’s cargo and fuel.

Brendon Ritz, from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Honolulu, says the first concern is the crew’s safety. — AP