Coast Guard personnel located an eight-member crew Sunday night after they safely abandoned an 89-foot sinking fishing vessel hundreds of miles from the Big Island.

The crew – a captain, six crew members and an observer from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration— were aboard the commercial vessel, Princess Hawaii, when they ran into trouble while fishing Sunday, Coast Guard officials said this morning.

The Princess Hawaii is part of Hawaii’s longline fishing fleet out of Honolulu, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.

At 11:23 a.m., the Coast Guard Joint Response Coordination Center Honolulu received a radio beacon alert notifying them of an emergency more than 400 miles north of Hilo. But watchstanders could not make contact with anyone aboard the vessel, according to Coast Guard officials.

The Coast Guard launched its HC-130 Hercules plane to search for the crew who later observed a flare and the crew aboard a life raft in the area indicated by the radio beacon alert.

The crew also spotted the submerged fishing vessel with only the stern protruding above the water’s surface. Weather conditions at the time of the rescue were 10-foot seas with 20 mph winds.

The Coast Guard remained at the scene until the fishing vessel’s sister ship, the Commander, arrived to pick up the crew. No injuries were reported.

The Coast Guard has initiated an investigation into the sinking of the Princess Hawaii.