Coast Guard saves vessel, assists four off Hatteras Inlet

The Coast Guard saved four people Thursday after their vessel started taking on water about nine miles off Hatteras Inlet.

Watchstanders at the Sector North Carolina Command Center in Wilmington received a call for assistance at 3:17 p.m. from the 42-foot sport fishing vessel Matador, reporting that it was taking on water southeast of Hatteras Inlet.

Sector watchstanders issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast (UMIB) and launched a 29-foot Response Boat-Small (RBS) crew and a 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew from Station Hatteras Inlet.

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Cormorant was also approximately 10 miles from the Matador and responded to the UMIB, arriving on scene at 3:51 p.m. Crew members boarded the Matador with a dewatering pump and were able to control the flooding.

After they arrived on scene, the RBS crew escorted the Matador into Hatteras Inlet and then to Scott’s Boat Yard in Buxton, arriving at 7:12 p.m.

There were no injuries reported.

“The crew aboard the Matador was well prepared with survival gear and called for assistance early on,” said Lt. David Burr, commanding officer aboard the Cormorant. “We just happened to be close by when they needed our help. The boat was severely flooded when we arrived on scene. We’re on our way from Coast Guard Yard in Curtis Bay, Md., to our homeport in Charleston. We spent 60 days undergoing the Bow-to-Stern Dry-Dock Program, and the performance of our cutter during this case is a testament to the hard work of everyone at the yard.”