UPDATE: The Coast Guard suspended its search Sunday for the missing boater southeast of White Point Beach. Rescuers searched approximately 279 square nautical miles.
“The Coast Guard extends its deepest sympathies to the friends and families who lost loved ones from this tragedy,” said Cmdr. Michael Batchelder, deputy commander, Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region. “The decision to suspend a search effort is always one of the most difficult.”
Saturday, November 19 a boat capsized with four fishermen on board on the lower Potomac River. The men were returning from fishing the MSSA Chesapeake Bay Fall Classic when the accident occurred.
According to the
U.S. Coast Guard, Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Maryland-National Capital Region received several reports around 5 p.m. Saturday evening from friends and family of the boaters stating a 32-foot fishing vessel,
Reel Intimidator, was taking on water and should have been moored up already.
Sector Maryland-NCR issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a 45-foot Response boat-Medium boat crew from Coast Guard Station St. Inigoes and an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, to assist. Assets from Maryland State Police, Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland Natural Resources Police, and St. Mary’s County Fire also launched to assist.
At approximately 6:30 a.m. the next morning, the MH-60 Jayhawk crew located the vessel overturned southeast of White Point Beach with one person, age 39, on top of the hull. The boater was transferred to Medstar St. Mary's Hospital. His condition is unknown.
At approximately 8:50 a.m., a Coast Guard boat crew and good Samaritans recovered the bodies of two of the fishermen, one age 48 from Charles County, the other age 55 from St. Mary's County. One boater remained missing.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to these fishermen and their families during this tragic accident, as well as all of the rescue personnel involved.