adn.com | alaska : Ship’s crew rescued

Nearly two dozen crew members were hoisted to safety in rescue helicopters late Monday night from a giant car-carrying ship that had listed onto its side in the North Pacific Ocean, according to the Alaska Air National Guard and the U.S. Coast Guard.

The 23 crew members of the Cougar Ace, wearing red survival suits, perched on a wall of the ship’s superstructure in choppy seas as two Air Guard HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters and a Coast Guard helicopter lowered slings and pulled them to safety. The rescue operation began shortly after 9 p.m. and was completed by about 10 p.m.

“They did pack them in, as many as they humanly could, into all three helicopters,” said Maj. Mike Haller of the Air National Guard. “They did it one at a time, and quickly.”

The helicopters then headed for Adak, about 230 miles away.

The Singapore-registered Cougar Ace, carrying nearly 5,000 vehicles, had sent out an SOS Sunday at 11:09 p.m. The 654-foot vessel had begun to list and was taking on water, according to the Coast Guard. By midafternoon Monday, the Coast Guard reported that the ship was listing to 90 degrees, almost flat on its side in the sea.

As the rescue commenced, the seas were at 10 feet with 30-knot winds. Haller said chopper crews described those conditions as “very sporty.”

This is why I love, love, LOVE the Coast Guard, and Air-Sea Rescue guys. No matter how horrific or challenging the conditions, they get the job done and call it “sporty.”

The Alaska Air National Guard sent choppers that had to be refueled enroute with a tanker plane, plus there was all kinds of inter-service cooperation and coordination. Pretty damn fine sporty, if you ask me. Well done, guys.

Now it remains to be seen if a gigantic ship full of Japanese cars and fuel oil that’s lying on its side on the water will be salvaged, cause an environmental catastrophe, or sink. Something must have gone seriously wacky in the holds, and it’s a wonder no one was more seriously hurt.