The Coast Guard in Alaska has suspended a search for five fishermen missing after the boat they were in sank on Tuesday.
Two survivors of the seven aboard were rescued by helicopter early Wednesday from a life raft, officials said.
The Scandies Rose, a 130-foot vessel, sank at around 10 p.m. near Sutwik Island, the Coast Guard said.
The Coast Guard said the search for the other five people missing, which was suspended at 6:08 p.m. Wednesday, lasted more than 20 hours and covered over 1,400 square miles. The search was conducted by helicopter, by plane and with a Coast Guard cutter that had been diverted from the Bering Sea.
"The decision to suspend an active search and rescue case is never easy, and it's only made after careful consideration of a myriad of factors," Coast Guard Rear Admiral Matthew Bell, commander of the 17th district, said in a statement. "Our deepest condolences to the friends and families impacted by this tragedy."
The Coast Guard was notified of a mayday call from the fishing boat at around 10 p.m. Tuesday and the vessel capsized and sank around five miles southeast of Sutwik Island, which is southwest of Kodiak Island, the agency said.
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The two survivors were wearing survival suits and were rescued after spending around four hours in the life raft, the Anchorage Daily News reported Wednesday evening, citing a briefing by Coast Guard rescue crews.
They were reported to be two men, 38 and 34 years old, and the Coast Guard said that they were taken to a hospital in Kodiak and were stable.
Rescue crews described challenging weather conditions, including near 60 mph winds, as crews flew towards the scene to begin the search. Rescuers found an empty life raft and then another life raft which contained the two survivors, who were uninjured but extremely cold, according to the Daily News.
The Coast Guard launched a helicopter and an HC-130 Hercules airplane after getting the mayday, and the helicopter crew rescued the two survivors.
Coast Guard public affairs officer Melissa McKenzie earlier told NBC affiliate KTUU of Anchorage that when the mayday call came in, officials sent out an emergency broadcast seeking help from nearby vessels but that nobody was able to assist.
"At the time of this event, the current conditions were just really, really bad," she told the station. "So either there weren't vessels in the area who were close enough to assist, or the weather conditions were so bad that they couldn't assist because it was beyond their safety parameters."
As the search for the five missing people was underway, weather at the scene was reported by the Coast Guard to involve winds in excess of 40 mph, with 15- to 20-feet seas and visibility of around one mile.
The Coast Guard said that decisions to suspend a search are made after all leads are exhausted and after careful consideration of the chances of survival.
The Scandies Rose was described as a crab-fishing boat homeported in Dutch Harbor.
