On Tuesday morning, the crew of fishing vessel America rescued a man who fell overboard from a tanker off the coast of Boston, Mass. The fishermen heard the distress call just after 4:30 a.m. from the anchored tanker MTM Dublin. The tanker reported that the man had gone over the side in rough conditions and fell 40 feet while a pilot ladder was being deployed, according to NBC Boston.
The crew of F/V America searched in the darkness with flashlights and eventually spotted his orange safety vest. Captain of America Bryant Moulton told NBC, “I told the guys just to keep looking and keep searching, and we stumbled across him.”
Fisherman John Abraham, a friend of America’s crew, told Boston 25 News that finding the man with flashlights was like finding a needle in a haystack. “That’s all they had,” said Abraham. “Some of the boats have big spotlights, but they didn’t have spotlights.”
His position was about one mile from the tanker’s anchored position, and it was truly pure luck that the crew found him. When the crewmembers had got the man onboard their vessel, he was unresponsive, and they initiated CPR. America soon headed for the port to get him to the highest level of care possible. The U.S. Coast Guard and Boston Fire Department met the vessel as it returned to the harbor. A Boston EMS spokesperson said, “They did CPR all the way to the dock. And that was like a 45-minute, hour ride or more. They never stopped, never stopped.”
The victim was taken to the hospital for further treatment but later died, the country district attorney’s office said on Wednesday.
