Leon m
03-23-2007, 12:49 PM
Maritime students on Wisconsin schooner rescue 3 off Fla.
ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) -- Maritime academy students on an excursion aboard a Wisconsin-based schooner got a real-life lesson early Thursday when they rescued three fishermen who were clinging to a sinking boat off the Florida Keys.
The 16 students from the Riviera Beach (Fla.) Maritime Academy were on the Denis Sullivan, a 19th-century replica Great Lakes schooner, as part of a 10-day nautical and marine science expedition.
They were with teachers and the crew of the ship when they heard a "May Day" call from a 33-foot fishing boat with three men aboard saying they were sinking about 11 miles southeast of Islamorada, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.
While the Coast Guard dispatched rescue crews to the scene, students and teachers on the 137-foot, three-masted schooner saw distress flares fired in the air and made their way to the sinking ship just after midnight.
A crew member eventually pulled two of the men to safety and a third man was able to swim to the ship's ladder, the Coast Guard said.
The three men, taken ashore by Coast Guard boat, were transported to Mariner's Hospital near Marathon. Two had serious injuries and the condition of the third man was not available.
The fishermen's vessel punched a 1-foot hole in the schooner's hull while the rescue was under way. Coast Guard crews temporarily repaired the hole with help from the students, and the ship continued on its way to Key West.
The Denis Sullivan is on a winter cruise in southern waters before making the return trip through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Milwaukee for the summer.
The vessel is based at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee.
ISLAMORADA, Fla. (AP) -- Maritime academy students on an excursion aboard a Wisconsin-based schooner got a real-life lesson early Thursday when they rescued three fishermen who were clinging to a sinking boat off the Florida Keys.
The 16 students from the Riviera Beach (Fla.) Maritime Academy were on the Denis Sullivan, a 19th-century replica Great Lakes schooner, as part of a 10-day nautical and marine science expedition.
They were with teachers and the crew of the ship when they heard a "May Day" call from a 33-foot fishing boat with three men aboard saying they were sinking about 11 miles southeast of Islamorada, according to a statement from the Coast Guard.
While the Coast Guard dispatched rescue crews to the scene, students and teachers on the 137-foot, three-masted schooner saw distress flares fired in the air and made their way to the sinking ship just after midnight.
A crew member eventually pulled two of the men to safety and a third man was able to swim to the ship's ladder, the Coast Guard said.
The three men, taken ashore by Coast Guard boat, were transported to Mariner's Hospital near Marathon. Two had serious injuries and the condition of the third man was not available.
The fishermen's vessel punched a 1-foot hole in the schooner's hull while the rescue was under way. Coast Guard crews temporarily repaired the hole with help from the students, and the ship continued on its way to Key West.
The Denis Sullivan is on a winter cruise in southern waters before making the return trip through the St. Lawrence Seaway to Milwaukee for the summer.
The vessel is based at Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin in Milwaukee.