GALVESTON, Texas – Coast Guard crews were searching for a missing man in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday evening after a shrimp boat sank 10 miles off the coast of Galveston.
Coast Guard officials said they got a distress call from the Mario Arturo II around 3 a.m.
The crew said the 72-foot boat, which is based out of Brownsville, was taking on water.
By the time the Coast Guard located the boat, it had sank.
Three crew members were rescued from the water, but the boat's captain was nowhere to be found.
"The three were together for the first twenty minutes they were in the water," said Justin Leddon, an Air Station Houston aviation mechanic. "They had a visual on the captain. And then, after that, they started drifting apart."
The Coast Guard dispatched two helicopters, a small vessel and a cutter to search for the missing crew member.
"This case highlights the benefits of the Coast Guard’s Rescue 21 program. Sector heard the initial mayday call and within minutes had a GPS position in the proximity of where the vessel was located," said Lt. J.G. Michael Gibson, an Air Station Houston helicopter pilot.
The captain is about 40 years old and was last seen wearing yellow rain pants and a T-shirt.
The Coast Guard said it issued an Urgent Marine Broadcast to all mariners in the vicinity of the search area and were asking anyone with information to call the Coast Guard Sector Galveston-Houston at 713-678-9059.
On Thursday afternoon, the three rescued crew members were in good condition at The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston.
Dr. William Mileski, a professor of general surgery, told 11 News the men were being treated for mild hypothermia.
"The Gulf temperatures are somewhere in the 60s right now. The human body will tolerate that for a much greater period of time. They all seem to be doing well. Their familes and friends are with them. They're alert and conversant [and] anxious to leave."
Late Thursday, the Coast Guard had two helicopters and two ships searching for the captain.
