FOURCHON, La. (WGNO) — Continuing the search this morning for 12 missing crew members on board when their vessel capsized. The incident happened at 4:30 on Tuesday afternoon just eight miles offshore.
The diving team should be on their way to the site again this morning. There are eight divers total, who will take turns searching the area surrounding the vessel.
It is day three that the U.S. Coast Guard is on search and rescue mode, which means it’s been more than 63 hours since the Seacor lifting vessel capsized in the Gulf of Mexico.
With every hour that passes by, the families are growing more anxious but, they’re trying to hold on to hope that the 12 missing crew members will be found alive.
The families felt a glimmer of hope thought on Thursday when they were called in for a private meeting with the owners of the vessel, Seacor, and the Coast Guard.
During the meeting, the families were told that the vessel is stable. It is not moving or sinking. Sometime Thursday, divers knocked on the vessel but, sadly heard no reply, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Heartland.
They are still promising the family that their efforts are continuing and they are planning to get inside the vessel. Once they do, the Coast Guard says they think it will take three to four days to sweep the vessel because there are so many rooms.
To give you an idea of how severe the storm was on Tuesday when the vessel capsized, a nearby shrimp boat got caught in the same storm. The captain and crew members took a video of what was happening.
In the video, you’ll see the shrimp boat, stuck inside a water spout and the waves pounding crew at every angle. You can also hear the fear in the captain and crew members’ voices as they rush to get life jackets and call their loved ones franticly.
Luckily, everyone on that boat was okay.
As the search continues for the missing crew members on the Seacor vessel, the numbers remain the same as of Friday at 8:00 A.M., six crew members rescued, one person dead and 12 still unaccounted for.
Yesterday, the Coast Guard told WGNO News that they used Thermal Imaging on the vessel Tuesday evening and possibly detected two people trapped inside but, they are “still evaluating.”