Crew from the tugboat Sea Cypress used a cutting torch to free two fellow crewmembers who were trapped inside the partially submerged vessel.
Crew aboard the 75-foot tugboat issued a mayday call on VHF channel 13 at 0538 indicating the vessel was capsizing near the mouth of the Sabine River, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
A Sabine Pilots boat crew was among the first to arrive. The operator of the pilot launch told the Coast Guard that two Sea Cypress crewmembers cut a hole in the bulkhead to free two others trapped inside the galley, the Coast Guard said.
All four crewmembers ultimately came aboard a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat that arrived soon afterward.
“Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur investigating officers are looking into the cause of the incident,” said Corinne Zilnicki, a spokeswoman for the service based in Houston.
The 2,400-hp Sea Cypress was owned by Garber Brothers Inc. of Morgan City, La. Attempts to reach the company for comment on the incident were not successful.
Local media reported the vessel might have been swamped by a large wave, although that could not be confirmed. As of press time, limited details about the incident were publicly available.
Zilnicki said Sea Cypress was moored north of the Sabine Pass jetties on the Louisiana side. The vessel became partially submerged in about six feet of water roughly 20 feet east of the main channel. At that depth, she said, the vessel cannot completely sink.
The two crewmembers were stuck inside the tugboat for about an hour before they were freed by others using the torch. Zilnicki said there was apparently no other way for the crew to get off the tug.
“We are glad that the tugboat crew was able to think outside the box and that we were able to quickly get all four of them to safety,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Ian Murray, search and rescue mission coordinator for Sector Houston-Galveston, said in a statement.
The Coast Guard response boat took all four Sea Cypress crew on board and carried them to Station Sabine. EMS crews later transported them to the Medical Center of Southeast Texas in Port Arthur in stable condition.
Details on any injuries suffered by the crew were not available. Updates on their condition also could not be found.
The Sabine Pilots did not respond to an inquiry about their role in the response.
The triple-screw Sea Cypress was built in 2014 primarily to support dredging operations and for towing barges around the Gulf of Mexico. The vessel was initially equipped with Cummins engines, John Deere gensets and a SMATCO double-drum towing winch.