Five Alaskan Fishermen Presumed Dead In New Years Eve Fishing Accident

Five commercial fishermen lost at sea in the Gulf of Alaska are presumed dead.

According to Reuters, the crabbing vessel capsized and sank on New Year’s Eve.

Search-and-rescue operations were called off on Thursday amid rough weather, the U.S. Coast Guard said.

The crew of 130-foot Scandies Rose, issued a distress call late Tuesday night.

Two men who escaped the capsized vessel in a life raft were rescued by a Coast Guard helicopter crew.

The Coast Guard searched 1,400 square miles of sea for 20 hours with helicopters, airplanes and a cutter vessel.

The loss of the Scandies Rose marked the worst Alaska commercial fishing accident in nearly three years.