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the sinking Captain Richie Rich.
Coast Guard photos

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Marine Safety Unit Morgan City members Boatswain Mate 3rd Class James Sellers, Boatswain 2nd Class Joseph Cunningham, Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Cole Lazella, Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Michael Montanese, Boatswain Mate 3rd Class Jesus Martinez-Borges, Fireman Jaimee Leon and Seaman Joshua Cooper helped rescue three Abbeville men from a lift raft

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Coast Guard rescues three from sinking shrimp boat

Coast Guard personnel rescued three men Monday from a life raft in the Gulf of Mexico, about 30 miles south of Morgan City, after their shrimp boat began sinking Sunday night.
Marine Safety Unit Morgan City Ensign Lisa Siebert said the U.S. Coast Guard responded Monday to a report of a sinking shrimp boat called Captain Richie Rich in the Gulf of Mexico.
Boatswain Mate 3rd Class James Sellers of Marine Safety Unit Morgan City was among the Coast Guard members who aided in the rescue with the unit’s response boat. Sellers was lead coxswain for the response crew.
At about 1 p.m. Monday, Marine Safety Unit members heard Coast Guard Sector New Orleans talking about a sinking vessel, Sellers said.
It took about 45 minutes for the rescue crew to get to the sinking boat, Sellers said.
Upon arrival, Sellers saw the boat was sticking halfway out of the water.
A crew with Sector New Orleans told Morgan City Coast Guard personnel that they saw a life raft with what looked like people in it about four or five miles southwest of the shrimp boat.
The Morgan City crew found the life raft and rescued three men from Abbeville. Though the men looked to be “a little shaken up” and scared, they didn’t have any injuries or ailments that required medical attention, Sellers said.
Coast Guard personnel believe the shrimp boat began sinking after an outrigger on the boat penetrated the boat’s hull. The boat began taking on water about 9 p.m. Sunday.
The response to the sinking vessel continues because the shrimp boat didn’t have insurance and had 4,000 gallons of diesel fuel on board, Siebert said. Coast Guard officials will have to remove the diesel fuel from the sunken boat due to the potential pollution hazard, she said.

This story was written by Zachary Fitzgerald of The Daily Review staff. Reach him at zfitzgerald@daily-review.com

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