Two rescued from burning fishing boat near Cape Lookout

CAPE LOOKOUT, NC (WWAY) — The Coast Guard rescued two people near Cape Lookout after their fishing boat caught fire Thursday morning.

Watchstanders received a mayday call from a person aboard the boat Double G, stating there was a fire on board and they were taking on water.

The two people aboard got their life jackets, took a satellite phone, and prepared to abandon ship into a life raft.

Stay safe – be prepared!

The Coast Guard rescued two people after their 35-foot fishing boat caught fire and began to take on water approximately 15 miles southeast of Cape Lookout, Thursday morning.

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— USCG Mid-Atlantic (@uscgmidatlantic) July 16, 2020

Once on scene, a Station Fort Macon boat crew was able to pull them unharmed from the life raft and transfer them back to Station Fort Macon where the family was waiting.

Nobody was hurt.

“This search and rescue case was a textbook abandon ship evolution,” said Cmdr. Tracy Wirth, deputy sector commander for Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “The mariners did everything right to save their own lives by using the correct lifesaving equipment available to them, to include their VHF radio, life jackets, life raft, EPIRB, and strobe lights. The simple use of this equipment can mean the difference between life and death, and this positive outcome is based on the mariner’s own emergency preparedness by simply having the equipment and more importantly knowing how to use it.”