Coast Guard station Menemsha is currently involved in a search for a crewmember from the FV Susan Rose of Port Judith, R.I., who was reported overboard at 1:39 a.m. Friday. At the time, the vessel was inbound to New Bedford.
Lieut. Jeremy Evan Silva, the Coast Guard command center chief for the ongoing investigation, confirmed that the lost individual is a Black male of 5 foot 9 inches tall. He was last seen by his crewmates around midnight, and was reported missing approximately 90 minutes later.
“Our focus is on search and rescue and finding him,” Lieutenant Silva said. An investigation into the exact nature of the overboard incident will follow the search, the command chief said.
The Coast Guard has mobilized a large search force, including three cutters, one HH-60 helicopter, a HC-144 fixed-wing search plane, as well as a number of other vessels from the Massachusetts Environmental Police and New Bedford’s fire and harbor master offices.
A spokesman for station Menemsha told the Gazette Friday that the investigation stretched from New Bedford to Nomans Land, with a particular focus on the Island’s south shore.
Chilmark fire chief Jeremy Bradshaw said he was alerted to the situation by the Coast Guard at 4:50 a.m. Friday morning. He searched Squibnocket Beach and the surrounding area by ATV, and firefighter John Mayhew surveyed inaccessible areas with an arial drone, the chief said. The Aquinnah fire department had also mounted a search, although neither town was able to locate the individual.
“It was a good response, but nothing spotted,” Chief Bradshaw said.
