1 missing, 2 rescued from crab boat off Washington coast

RAYMOND, Wash. (AP) — A crew member remains missing and two others were rescued from crab boat that sank near Willapa Bay in southwest Washington on Sunday evening, according to the Coast Guard.

The Coast Guard on Twitter posted a video and said a helicopter crew from Astoria, Oregon, hoisted two people from a life raft into the helicopter during rough weather and large waves.

Petty Officer Steve Strohmaier, a public affairs specialist for the Coast Guard 13th District In Seattle told The Seattle Times that Coast Guard teams were notified of the 46-foot (14-meter) Ethel May sinking by an emergency position-indicating radio beacon that began broadcasting a signal as the boat went down around 7:30 p.m.

The Coast Guard watch in Warrenton, Oregon, was also notified of a 911 call made from the wife of one of the crabbers.

The Coast Guard helicopter arrived on scene around 8:10 p.m. The two hoisted crew members had mild hypothermia and were taken to Willapa Harbor Hospital.

A search for the third crew member was suspended Monday evening, the Coast Guard said on Twitter.

During a 15-hour search, crews from the air, sea, and shore covered 290 square miles (751 square kilometers) throughout Willapa Bay, the coastline, and offshore, according to the Coast Guard.

Search crews found debris from the boat within Willapa Bay, and nearby waters in the Pacific. That indicates the vessel broke apart, according to a Coast Guard statement.

As of Monday evening, the names of the two survivors or the missing person had not been released.

Dungeness crab is the state’s most valuable commercial seafood harvest. The seasons have generated on average $47.92 million to crabbers in the past decade.