US Coast Guard tows Dominican fishing boat; crew of 16 safe: report

Miami. – A Dominican Republic fishing vessel with 16 people on board was being towed by the U.S. Coast Guard after it became disabled near Haiti.

Quoting a Coast Guard news release, outlet local10.com said the crew of the Dominican Republic-flagged Grace Zanzibar sent a distress message Saturday indicating that the vessel was disabled and taking on water about 35 miles south of Haiti.

The Coast Guard diverted an airplane crew to the vessel, dropping a dewatering pump, food and water to the crew of the 150-foot boat.

It said that a second airplane crew was diverted to the ship about midnight Sunday to drop another dewatering pump after the Grace Zanzibar crew reported that the flooding was beyond a single pump’s capacity. “The Coast Guard Cutter Dauntless was dispatched to help the Grace Zanzibar crew stop the flooding.”

Both ships were scheduled to arrive in southern Dominican port of Las Calderas by Tuesday afternoon.