Coast Guard rescues 6 people from sinking boat off Jersey Shore

SEA GIRT (AP) — Six people were rescued after a 25-foot pleasure craft started to sink in waters off the New Jersey coast.

Coast Guard and state police crews responded to the scene around 9:15 a.m. Sunday, after a person aboard the boat reported it was quickly filling with water. The person also said they had fired a distress flare to help responders locate their position, which was about a mile off Sea Girt.

A 47-foot motor life boat crew and a 25-foot response boat-small crew were dispatched from Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet. A state police marine unit and a Coast Guard Auxiliary boat crew also were deployed.

The responders found the six people standing in about two feet of water in the sinking boat. The state police marine unit rescued five of them, while the other was rescued by the Coast Guard Auxiliary boat crew.

All six were eventually taken to a marina in Brielle, and no injuries were reported. The Coast Guard boat crews dewatered the pleasure craft, which was towed back to the marina.

Investigators were trying to determine what caused the boat to sink.

"The flare they fired and the information the people provided over the radio greatly increased the response time, ultimately resulting in the rescue of six lives and saving the vessel," said Petty Officer 2nd Class Matt Morin, the officer of the day at Coast Guard Station Manasquan Inlet.

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