UPDATE, 7:30 p.m. The Coast Guard has announced that the search has been suspended for missing fishing vessel Destination, which disappeared over the weekend with six people on board.

On Saturday, watchstanders from Coast Guard 17th District received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert from F/V Destination. Shortly after, Kodiak aircrews were deployed to start the search.

The search continued through Monday.

“We extend our deepest condolences to the family and friends of the six crew members during this extremely difficult time,” said Rear Adm. Michael McAllister, Coast Guard 17th District commander in a release Monday evening.

“The decision to suspect a search is always difficult and is made with great care and consideration.”

UPDATE, 5:00 p.m.

The United States Coast Guard has scaled back its search effort for a missing crab boat off the coast of St. George Island.

Over the weekend, the search included the Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, a C-130 and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters. On Monday, only the cutter and C-130 remained searching for the missing vessel, each battling 35-mph winds and 10-foot seas.

Although the number of search crews has decreased, the search area has expanded dramatically. Coast Guard officials say crews are now searching an area that has grown to roughly 7,000 square miles.

The original search focused on an area about two miles off the coast of St. George Island, because of currents, that search area has stretched as far as 80-miles southwest of the island.

UPDATE, 8:15 p.m.

The family member of one of the missing crewmembers aboard fishing vessel Destination said in an interview Sunday that the situation is "devastating" for her and her family.

Karla Herdman, sister-in-law of Larry O'Grady, who was reportedly aboard the Destination, praised U.S. Coast Guard efforts and said she, family and friends are all just hoping for the best.

"The Coast Guard has been awesome, keeping us updated on the search and rescue procedures," Herdman said. "But it's unreal. It's like it's not happening.

"We're down here in Washington State, and we're sitting here waiting for answers. It's pretty hard."

Herdman is the sister of Gail O'Grady, Larry's wife. She said the last two days have been "a roller coaster" for Gail.

"She's okay one minute, and then reality is hitting," Herdman said. "It's devastating."

When asked about the status of the search shortly before 8 p.m., Coast Guard officials in Alaska said they had no additional information to release at the time.

UPDATE, 12:00 p.m:

The fishing vessel Destination remains missing today. The U.S. Coast Guard said additional crews were adding in the search Sunday.

“Coastguard Cutter Morgenthau arrived on scene this morning around 10 a.m., and they also have an aviation crew with MH-65 Dolphin helicopter that is able to asset with search patterns as well,” said Public Affairs Specialist Lauren Steenson.

Steenson says none of the six people believed to be on board the Destination have been identified.

In addition to the Coast Guard, good Samaritan boats along with ground crews, who are using 4-wheelers on the west side of Saint George Island, are continuing to assist in the search.

“Everyone’s been working together - the tribe, the city, the Coast Guard and ground crews," said Saint George resident Grace Merculief. "And we have the Good Samaritan crab boats out there, so everybody’s been working well together."

The Coast Guard reports the weather on scene as 25-mph winds with light snow, two to four foot seas, air temperature at 21 degrees and a sea temperature of 38 degrees.

UPDATE, 9:08 p.m:

Six people remain missing on Seattle-based fishing vessel Destination, the last communication with which was a distress signal from about two miles outside of St. George, Alaska.

A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews are still on the scene searching for the missing boat.

Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau is scheduled to arrive early Sunday morning. Officials say an Air Station Kodiak MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew currently deployed on the cutter will also be deployed to assist.

A U.S. Coast Guard crew which began its response around 10:15 Saturday morning after Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders in the Juneau received an electronic positioning radio beacon alert from the vessel, also Saturday morning.

UPDATE, 6:27 p.m.:

Officials say U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau, 378-foot high endurance cutter based in Hawaii, is on its way from Dutch Harbor to assist in the search for a missing fishing vessel with six people on it.

Fishing vessel Destination sent out a distress signal Saturday morning, according to a U.S. Coast Guard press release.

Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson said Saturday evening that the plan was to continue searching for Destination and its occupants, rather than call off the search at dark.

"They're planning on continuing the search throughout the night," she said.

At last check, at least one good Samaritan vessel as well as two Jayhawk crews that initially responded were still on scene.

The vessel is based out of Seattle, Steenson said, but had moored in Sand Point, Alaska, in the Aleutians East Borough.

As for what the discovery of the vessel's emergency position indicating radiobeacon (EPIRB), buoys, a life ring from the fishing vessel and an oil sheen means, Steenson said she "did not want to speculate."

"The reason for a response this large is usually because, when we reach the location the EPIRB is giving us, it's with the vessel," she said. "We'll at least get some communication to see if it was turned on by accident, or get in contact in order to rescue.

"I can't assume anything," she said, "but crews are going to continue to look throughout the night. We're just hoping for the best."

ORIGINAL STORY:

A U.S. Coast Guard crew comprising multiple units is searching for a fishing vessel near St. George, Alaska.

Coast Guard 17th District watchstanders in the state's capital received an electronic positioning radio beacon alert from the vessel Saturday morning, and thus launched aircraft crews in response, according to Petty Officer 3rd Class Lauren Steenson.

A U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew, which began its response around 10:15 Saturday morning, as well as two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews, which joined early Saturday afternoon, are currently responding to the alert from fishing vessel Destination.

The locator beacon was sent from approximately two miles northwest of St. George, a press release from U.S. Coast Guard 17th District Alaska stated.

Two good Samaritan vessels, fishing vessels Silver Spray and Bering Rose, are assisting with the search. Citizens in St. George have reportedly assembled a search party to patrol the shoreline for any signs of the crew or vessel.

The emergency position indicating radiobeacon, or EPIRB, has been recovered among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring from fishing vessel Destination and an oil sheen.

“We are saturating the area with Coast Guard and good Samaritan assets and hoping for the best,” said Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan, Coast Guard 17th District watchstander.

Weather on scene is reported as 30-mph winds, five to eight-foot seas and snowing, according to the Coast Guard release. Air temperature is 20 degrees and sea temperature is 30 degrees.</s>JUNEAU, Alaska — The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search for the crew of fishing vessel Destination. A distress call went out Saturday morning about two miles northwest of St. George, Alaska.

The Coast Guard, along with two helicopters and two good Samaritan vessels searched all day Saturday and through the night for the vessel.

Coast Guard Cutter Morgenthau arrived at the scene Sunday morning along with the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew on the cutter.

Citizens of St. George are patrolling the shoreline for any signs of the crew or vessel.

Upon arriving Saturday morning, search crews recovered the emergency position-indicating radio beacon or (EPIRB) among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring, and an oil sheen.

“We are saturating the area with Coast Guard and good Samaritan assets and hoping for the best,” Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan, Coast Guard 17th District watchstander said Saturday.

Port of Seattle spokesman Brian DeRoy confirms that Destination was docked in Seattle last summer.

Weather on scene is reported as 25-mph winds, two to four-foot seas, air temperature of 21 degrees, sea temperature of 38 degrees and light snow.</s>SEATTLE – The US Coast Guard searched Saturday for a Seattle-based fishing vessel that went missing in the Bering Sea.

According to Chief Petty Officer Shawn Eggert, the Coast Guard responded to a radio beacon signal from the vessel Destination on Saturday morning near St. George, Alaska. Search crews arrived shortly after 10 a.m. to begin searching.

It’s unknown if the vessel sank or if the crew was lost, but a debris field was located with a buoy, life ring with the vessel's name on it, and a small oil sheen in the area.

The Coast Guard says that six crew members were believed to be on board at the time it went missing.

Coast Guard helicopters and citizen vessels are searching the Bering Sea for any trace of the vessel. St. George residents are searching the shore for any crew members.

KING 5 has heard from members of Seattle’s fishing community who say the Destination is a locally-based vessel.</s>Coast Guard crews are searching for a 98-foot fishing boat near St. George, Alaska.

The fishing vessel Destination left from the Port of Seattle, authorities confirm. Six people were on-board. Coast Guard watch standers received a radio beacon alert from the vessel Saturday at around 7:15 a.m. Seattle time and launched air crews shortly after.

The beacon was found approximately two miles northwest of St. George Island, an island off the southern coast of Alaska, U.S. Coast Guard 17th District said.

Two good Samaritan vessels are assisting the Coast Guard with the search. Citizens in the town of St. George have assembled a search party to patrol the shoreline for any signs of the crew or vessel.

The radio beacon was recovered Saturday among a collection of debris including buoys, a life ring from the fishing boat and an oil sheen.

"We are saturating the area with Coast Guard and good Samaritan assets and hoping for the best," Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan of the Coast Guard's 17th District said.

A 370-foot Coast Guard cutter is en route from Dutch Harbor to help search the scene. The vessel is expected to arrive early Sunday morning.

The Coast Guard said weather on scene includes 30 mph winds, five-to-eight-foot sea swells and snow.

Air temperature is 20 degrees and sea temperature is 30 degrees. Authorities said current conditions are typical for the area.</s>USCGC Morgenthau (WHEC 722) along with Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak crews and good Samaritans continue the search for the crew of fishing vessel Destination Feb. 12, 2017, after searching through the night northwest of St. George, Alaska. The Destination's EPIRB has been recovered among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring and an oil sheen. (U.S. Coast Guard video by Ensign Brandon Newman/Released)</s>USCG Locates Debris Field, EPIRB, but No Signs of Crew, Vessel off St George

The United States Coast Guard has reported that they have discovered a debris field in the waters northwest of St. George in the area where they received an EPIRB signal early on Saturday morning from the f/v Destination.

Although they discovered buoys, a life ring and the EPIRB, there have been no signs of the six crewmembers from the vessel.

A HC-130 Hercules responded to the area of the signal mid-morning on Saturday, followed by two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters early on Saturday afternoon. They along with searchers from St George continue to search for signs of life along the shoreline from the crew of the Seattle-based vessel.

The Coast Guard Cutter Morganthau, homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii, dispatched from Dutch Harbor, and arrived on the scene on Sunday morning to further take up the search.</s>SEATTLE – U.S. Coast Guard crews continue to search for a Seattle-based fishing vessel missing in Alaska's Bering Sea since Saturday.

The Coast Guard received an emergency electronic signal from the 98-foot crab boat Destination Saturday morning near St. George, about 650 miles west of Kodiak, Alaska. Search crews arrived a few hours later and having been searching since for the boat and its six-member crew.

While Coast Guard officials have not released the names of the crew, family members have confirmed to KING 5 three members: Charles Glenn Jones, Kai Hamik and Larry O’Grady.

Coast Guard officials do not know if the vessel sank, but searchers spotted a debris field containing buoys, a life ring with the vessel's name on it, and a small oil sheen in the area.

Multiple teams from various regions have joined the search effort on water, land, and air. The Morgenthau, a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii, joined the search Sunday morning, along with an Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews. A C-130 transport plane joined the search on Monday.

St. George residents were also searching for any crew members on shore.

A Coast Guard officer on a high-endurance cutter says Bering Sea fishing vessels at this time of year face hazards from large waves to icing that can upset a boat's balance.

Lt. Brenden Kelley, an operations officer and navigator on the 378-foot cutter Monroe, says mariners pay close attention to wind and waves and can use sophisticated tools to determine how much ice may be accumulating on their boats. Ice can make the vessels top-heavy.

KING 5's Elisa Hahn, Liza Javier and Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>The U.S. Coast Guard in Alaska planned to search through the night for a 98-foot fishing boat with six people aboard missing in the Bering Sea, where 30-mph winds whipped up five- to eight-foot seas.

A Coast Guard news release said an electronic locating device was recovered Saturday in “a debris field containing buoys, a life ring from fishing vessel Destination and an oil sheen.” Chief Petty Officer Joshua Ryan said searchers are “hoping for the best.”

Three Coast Guard helicopters as well as Good Samaritan boats tried to locate the Seattle-based vessel after a radio beacon alert sounded two miles northwest of St. George. A search party formed by locals on the small island patrolled the shoreline for signs of the crew.

Petty Officer Third Class Lauren Steenson said the 378-foot cutter Morgenthau en route from Dutch Harbor was expected to arrive in the search zone Sunday morning.</s>SEATTLE – U.S. Coast Guard crews continue to search for a Seattle-based fishing vessel missing in Alaska's Bering Sea since Saturday.

The Coast Guard received an emergency electronic signal from the 98-foot crab boat Destination Saturday morning near St. George, about 650 miles west of Kodiak, Alaska. Search crews arrived a few hours later and having been searching since for the boat and its six-member crew.

While Coast Guard officials have not released the names of the crew, family members have confirmed to KING 5 three members: 46-year-old Charles Glenn Jones, 29-year-old Kai Hamik and 55-year-old Larry O’Grady.

Jones is a father of three from Belfair. His wife, Rosalie, said she spoke to him 6 hours before the emergency beacon went off Saturday morning. She told KING 5 the vessel was well-maintained and the crew was experienced.

Hamik's family and girlfriend are waiting for word from the coast guard in Anchorage, AK. They tell us that he was the ship's cook and also maintained the hydraulics. He had been in the commercial fishing business since he was 14.

O'Grady's wife, Gail, shared some photos of him from their home in Poulsbo, WA, where they have lived for almost 30 years.

Debbie Lindgren, a longtime neighbor, said it has been difficult to be hopeful.

"When you hear there was never a mayday signal, when you hear they haven't found much of anything, when you know they can only survive 13 hours in their survival suits, the family is connecting a lot of dots," said Lindgren.

Coast Guard officials do not know if the vessel sank, but searchers spotted a debris field containing buoys, a life ring with the vessel's name on it, and a small oil sheen in the area.

Multiple teams from various regions have joined the search effort on water, land, and air. The Morgenthau, a 378-foot high endurance cutter homeported in Honolulu, Hawaii, joined the search Sunday morning, along with an Air Station Kodiak HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews. A C-130 transport plane joined the search on Monday.

St. George residents were also searching for any crew members on shore.

A Coast Guard officer on a high-endurance cutter says Bering Sea fishing vessels at this time of year face hazards from large waves to icing that can upset a boat's balance.

Lt. Brenden Kelley, an operations officer and navigator on the 378-foot cutter Monroe, says mariners pay close attention to wind and waves and can use sophisticated tools to determine how much ice may be accumulating on their boats. Ice can make the vessels top-heavy.

KING 5's Elisa Hahn, Liza Javier and Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>After nearly three days, the U.S. Coast Guard has called off the search for six fishermen missing since Saturday, when their crabbing vessel disappeared in the Bering Sea.

Coast Guard officials made the announcement Monday (Feb. 13) night, after search parties found no sign of the F/V Destination — apart from a floating tangle of debris that included the boat’s emergency beacon, several buoys and a life ring.

The 98-foot vessel was on its way to fish for snow crab Saturday morning when it activated its locator beacon two miles northwest of St. George Island.

Coast Guard Petty Officer Shawn Eggert said a cutter, five air crews, and several volunteer vessels responded to the distress signal, searching more than 5,700 square nautical miles with no luck.

“We really don’t know what happened out there,” Eggert said. “So we can’t assume the vessel sank, how that may have happened, or what may have happened to this crew.”

Eggert said the Coast Guard has opened an investigation into the cause of the incident.

If investigators determine the crew didn’t survive, the loss of the Destination will be Alaska’s deadliest commercial fishing accident since 2008, when the F/V Katmai sank in the Amchitka Pass on its way to Unalaska.

Seven of the Katmai’s 11 crew members died in a severe storm after the vessel lost steering power and took on water.

Owners of the Destination say their boat was in good condition at the time of its disappearance. Michael Barcott is the attorney representing the vessel’s principal owner — David Wilson, a fisherman from Sand Point who now lives in Washington.

Barcott said the owners don’t know what happened the Destination either.

“We’ll be working with the Coast Guard to try to sort that out, but right now it’s a mystery,” Barcott said. “Everyone’s thoughts and prayers are with the families of the crew.”

The Coast Guard and the Destination’s owners have declined to the name the lost crew members until their families have been consulted.

Two days after a fishing vessel went missing in the Bering Sea, U.S. Coast Guard officials say there’s been no sign of the ship — or the six people onboard — since searchers found its emergency beacon Saturday (Feb. 11) afternoon.

The F/V Destination sent a distress signal Saturday morning, two miles northwest of St. George Island.

The Coast Guard has launched a search for the 98-foot crabber, which is based in Sand Point and Seattle.

David Wilson and his brother have owned the boat for more than 30 years, according to their maritime attorney Michael Barcott.

“They are a longtime Alaska fishing family with deep roots in the Sand Point community,” Barcott said.

Barcott said the vessel was on its way to fish for opilio snow crab when it activated its electronic position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB).

“The boat had left Sand Point, called in Dutch Harbor to pick up some bait, and was on its way to St. Paul Island,” Barcott said. “The EPIRB went off at 6:11 a.m. Saturday, and it appears it was somewhere between two and four miles off St. George Island at the time of the incident.”

The Coast Guard has not released any theories as to what may have happened to the Destination. Barcott said the owners don’t know either.

“We know this: This was a really good and experienced crew,” Barcott said. “This captain had been on this boat for a long time, the boat was in good condition, and it is an absolute mystery what happened.”

Coast Guard Petty Officer Lauren Steenson said searchers found the boat’s emergency beacon at sea Saturday afternoon “among a debris field containing buoys, a life ring, and an oil sheen.”

The search has continued since then with no luck, and Steenson said it’s unclear how long the Coast Guard will continue looking.

“I’m not sure, and I wouldn’t be able to speculate,” Steenson said. “At the moment, we have the Coast Guard cutter Morgenthau searching, with an aviation detachment onboard. It’s an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew, two MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crews, and two HC-130 Hercules airplane crews.”

Steenson said St. George residents are patrolling the shore for signs of the Destination or its crew. Two volunteer ships — the fishing vessels Bering Rose and Silver Spray — also responded.

“We appreciate all of the Good Samaritans coming together and the community of St. George setting up search parties for the shoreline,” Steenson said. “We really rely on the maritime community to respond to urgent marine broadcasts, help us get more eyes out there, and hope for the best.”
The U.S. Coast Guard continues to search for the missing F/V Destination, a Seattle-based fishing vessel operating near St. George, Alaska, with a six-member crew. The Coast Guard has discovered a debris field, but no sign of the crew.