UPDATE — Missing mariners found safe
UPDATE 5:30 p.m. EDT — Both missing mariners were confirmed to be alive and safe onboard the life raft discovered by search crews.
UPDATE 4:30 p.m. EDT — A life raft with at least one person onboard has been located in the area of the search.
According to Coast Guard Officer Tom Simons, the Coast Guard has not yet identified the people onboard the life raft.
ORIGINAL REPORT —
The United States Coast Guard Station in Panama City is actively searching for a 60-62 foot vessel that was reported to have been sinking off of Gulf County last night.
The Coast Guard recieved a report of a 60-62 foot vessel taking on water in the vacinity of Port St. Joe and St. Josephs Island, according to a Facebook post made by the station Monday night.
Radio and cell communications were lost with the vessel as it was making its way back to Port.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Coast Guard reported that they had no further updates as to the status of the boat.
“We have multiple assets searching, and they’ve been searching throughout the night,” said a representative from the Coast Guard. “Nothing has been located.”
“Right now we’re going through all the local marinas to see if maybe the vessel was moored up there, and we’re doing a lot of shoreline search to see if maybe they grounded the boat.”
All mariners are requested to keep a sharp lookout, assist if possible and report all sightings to the US. Coast Guard.
This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.
Meet the Editor
David Adlerstein, The Apalachicola Times’ digital editor, started with the news outlet in January 2002 as a reporter.
Prior to then, David Adlerstein began as a newspaperman with a small Boston weekly, after graduating magna cum laude from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts. He later edited the weekly Bellville Times, and as business reporter for the daily Marion Star, both not far from his hometown of Columbus, Ohio.
In 1995, he moved to South Florida, and worked as a business reporter and editor of Medical Business newspaper. In Jan. 2002, he began with the Apalachicola Times, first as reporter and later as editor, and in Oct. 2020, also began editing the Port St. Joe Star.