Four lobster boatmen rescued by U.S. Coast Guard

By: Dee DeQuattro

Email: ddequattro@abc6.com

Twitter: @deedequattro

Four Rhode Island lobstermen were rescued from their sinking boat by the U.S. Coast Guard on Thursday morning.

The boat was about 40 miles south of Block Island when the lobstermen sent a distress call around 4:15 a.m. because their ship, the Sakonnet Lobster, was taking on water.

The Coast Guard First District Command Center in Boston then launched a MH-60T Jayhawk Helicopter from the Coast Guard Air Station in Cape Cod to rescue the four men aboard the Sakonnet Lobster.

At 6:40 a.m. the lobstermen had abandoned ship and the aircrew arrived on scene to make the rescue.

The boat sank in about 250 feet of water.

(C) WLNE-TV 2014