9 rescued from sinking boat

Nine people were rescued from a 41-foot boat Sunday afternoon when it began sinking off of Ewa Beach, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard.

Two good Samaritan vessels, Strikeology and Maggie Joe, responded to a distress call to the Coast Guard from the boat Wild Bunch at around 2:15 p.m. Six passengers were evacuated onto Strikeology and Maggie Joe while the three crew members stayed aboard the Wild Bunch, trying to remove water from the vessel.

A 45-foot Response Boat-Medium from the Coast Guard arrived approximately 30 minutes later and passed the three crew members a portable dewatering pump, but they could not keep up with the flooding and evacuated onto the Coast Guard vessel. They were brought back to Sand Island without incident.

No injuries were reported.

The cause of the Wild Bunch’s sinking is under investigation, but the Coast Guard issued a hazard- to-navigation broadcast to all mariners, warning them to keep a lookout to avoid collision. The Wild Bunch was last seen submerged and drifting. Its owner has hired a salvage company to retrieve it.

The maximum potential pollution is 250 gallons of diesel fuel, 32 quarts of oil and two marine batteries, the Coast Guard said.