The Coast Guard is assisting the crew of a sinking fishing boat 144 miles north northeast of Oahu, Sunday.
Watchstanders at the Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center received a distress call from the commercial fishing vessel Pacifica at 8:58 a.m., Sunday.
The crew reported the vessel was taking on water at ten gallons per minute and was continuing to make way toward Oahu at 7 miles per hour.
An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew launched from Air Station Barbers Point at 9:29 a.m. The Hercules crew arrived on scene at 10:05 a.m. and dropped dewatering equipment to the fishing vessel. The Hercules will remain on scene until the Coast Guard Cutter Kittiwake arrives to provide additional assistance. The 87-foot patrol boat departed its homeport of Honolulu at 10:30 a.m. and is expected to arrive on scene at 3:30 p.m.
The fishing vessel has life rafts aboard and is using dewatering pumps to keep up with the flooding.
The HC-130 is the Coast Guard's long range multi-mission aircraft serving the Main Hawaiian Islands and the Central and South Pacific. A video explaining the process of dropping emergency supplies to mariners in distress can be viewed at the following link: http://www.dvidshub.net/video/303893/coast-guard-hc-130-drop#.VGkWZtZSLBI
For more information contact the 14th Coats Guard District public affairs office at (808) 535-3230.