Coast Guard Searching For Man Overboard South Of Nantucket

The Coast Guard continues to search for a fisherman who is believed to have gone overboard from a vessel Saturday night approximately five miles south of Nantucket.

A crew member from the fishing vessel Gaston’s Legacy was reported overboard and missing by the captain of the boat around 10 p.m. Saturday night, Coast Guard Station Brant Point’s BMCM Lance Wiser told the Current.

Coast Guard Station Brant Point launched its 47-foot motor lifeboat shortly thereafter and conducted search operations all night. After returning to the island early this morning, another crew from Station Brant Point launched to head back to the search area Sunday morning.

“We just conducted searches throughout the night and we’ll be out there all day,” Wiser said Sunday morning. “We’ve got some reinforcements on the way to help us out.”

Numerous other Coast Guard assets, including MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft from Air Station Cape Cod, have participated in the ongoing search. Additional Coast Guard cutters from around the region also arrived south of Nantucket to assist with the search operation.

“It’s a decent transit to get south of the island and we were out all night,” Wiser told the Current. “We don’t have any other information other than the captain of the boat noticed his crewman wasn’t on board anymore.”

It's not clear if the missing fisherman was wearing a life jacket or any survival gear when he went overboard. The 88-foot fishing vessel Gaston's Legacy is out of New Bedford.

Nantucket Police and the Nantucket Harbormaster's team - including island lifeguards - joined the search operation on land by scouring the south shore from Tom Nevers to Smith's Point all day on Sunday looking for any sign of the lost fisherman. At one point early Sunday afternoon, lifeguards on ATVs congregated along the south shore between Nobadeer and Fisherman's beaches after spotting something in the surf. Harbormaster Sheila Lucey arrived on the scene and it was later determined it was marine life and not the missing fisherman. 

"We've been searching since first light," Harbormaster Sheila Lucey said. "We're going off what the Coast Guard told us where they think we should be. We started near Nobadeer and just expanded that to go from Tom Nevers out to Smith's Point."

Coast Guard petty officer Diolanda Caballero told the Current that USCG cutter Harriet Lane and the USCG cutters Beluga and Maurice Jester also joined the search south of the island.

"There is also assistance from the fishing fleet vessels Captain John (and) Lady Samira," Caballero said.

As Sunday evening arrived, Coast Guard helicopters were still hovering over areas along the south shore, and Brant Point's BMCM Wiser said the search would continue.

"The Coast Guard is still searching," Wiser said. "Coast Guard crews saturated the search area throughout last night and all through today, with no results. CGC Maurice Jester has arrived on-scene and is continuing the surface search with support from various air assets throughout the day."