ALASKA — The U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for the five missing crew members aboard the F-V Wind Walker, the capsized fishing vessel, off the Alaska coast.
The Sitka based crew reported their 50ft boat was sinking early Sunday morning near Point Couverden off the coast of Juneau.
The Coast Guard and local boaters searched more than 100 square nautical miles in 24 hours without finding the boat or any of the men on board.
One of the people searching is Seattle native Glenn Jahnke. He is serving as a Mate aboard the Pacific Warrior tug boat that is hauling a barge from Seattle to Kodiak Island Alaska.
He was only 12 miles from the Wind Walker when the mayday came out.
“It was a very distressed voice which is normally the case when there’s a mayday,” Jahnke said. “But he gave a mayday, mayday, mayday, said the name of the vessel, but there was no response. Then the Coast Guard replied asking where they were. His voice got more urgent he responded that they rolled on their side, were taking on water, and two people were in the water. Then the Coast Guard asked a question and there was no response after that.”
Jahnke said they turned the tug toward the call, but the weather slowed them down.
“The conditions were really fierce, winds blowing 50 knots and it was just a whiteout, so finding someone or anything was nearly impossible,” Jahnke said.
Jankhe tells us they were one of the first boats to arrive after a small ferry called The Hubbard.
“The Captain had passengers on board that were going home, everyone around there is a local and I can only imagine there were people on the deck looking over the sides trying to help,” Jahnke said.
The crews searched for more than 24 hours, only coming up with a foam cold weather suit.
“Seeing the floating empty suit is alarming because there’s nobody in it, it was taken out of its cover, someone was in the process of getting in it and just couldn’t get it on,” Jahnke said.
He tells us even in the negative snowy temperatures and high winds, the suit can protect someone for several hours before hypothermia sets in.
Jahnke said while aboard fishing and tugboats on similar routes, he has rescued several people trapped in the open water.
He says this part of Alaska has the worst weather conditions imaginable, telling us it has taken the lives of so many over the years.
“I’ve been a fisherman here for many years, I’ve seen this happen too many times. I’m always a little tense anyways because of the weather, but then to hear that it put an exclamation on the evening, it brought back a lot of bad memories for me of similar situations,” Jahnke said.
He tells us they anchored overnight near the search site due to bad weather. Once it clears today, his tug will continue its journey to Kodiak Island.
He said it’s hard to leave knowing the families of the missing fishermen still don’t know what happened or have closure.
The Coast Guard said the bodies of the five crew members and the fishing boat itself have not been found.
The names of the crew members have not been released.