11 still missing in Louisiana capsizing as Coast Guard declares ‘major marine casualty’

Graeme Massie
·2 min read
<p>A Coast Guard Station Grand Isle 45-foot Respone Boat-Medium boatcrew heads toward a capsized 175-foot commercial lift boat Tuesday, April 13, 2021, searching for people in the water 8 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana.</p> (US Coast Guard Coast Guard Cutter Glenn Harris via AP)

A Coast Guard Station Grand Isle 45-foot Respone Boat-Medium boatcrew heads toward a capsized 175-foot commercial lift boat Tuesday, April 13, 2021, searching for people in the water 8 miles south of Grand Isle, Louisiana.

(US Coast Guard Coast Guard Cutter Glenn Harris via AP)

Rescuers are still searching for 11 crew members who remain missing in Louisiana after the Coast Guard declared a “major marine casualty”.

The Seacor Power capsized in the Gulf of Mexico during a severe storm earlier this week with 19 people onboard.

Six of the crew from the 129ft lift boat were rescued from the water and two others, including captain David Ledet, have been found dead.

Divers have now secured multiple access points to the flipped vessel and hope to be able to rescue any trapped crew members from one of them, the Coast Guard says.

Officials say they still consider the operation a rescue not a recovery mission.

“We are hopeful that we do find crew members alive, and that’s why we are making every effort we can to get to them and bring them home,” said Coast Guard Lt John Edwards.

The Coast Guard said that they are hopeful that crew members may have survived in air pockets in the overturned, but not fully submerged, ship.

Divers knocked on the hull on Thursday but did not hear any response from inside.

“While search efforts for the crew are continuing, the incident has been declared a major marine casualty,” the Coast Guard added in a statement.

Officials confirmed that the body of a second crew member was discovered in the water on Thursday night and recovered by a Coast Guard boat crew.

Divers began work at the ship early on Friday morning but had to postpone operations because of rough weather.

They continued their rescue operation again on Friday afternoon.

“I’m scared and I’m devastated and I’m broken,” Darra Morales, whose son was aboard the ship told NOLA.com.

“I just want my son to come home to his children.”

Ms Morales’ son is Chaz Morales, 37, a father of three, who is a crane operator for the Seacor Power.

Coast Guard crews have searched for a combined 70 hours covering about 6,380 square miles, “an area roughly the size of Hawaii,” the Coast Guard said.

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