(MOBILE, Ala.) — The body of the captain of a small tugboat was recovered by divers after the vessel capsized Saturday on the Alabama River, The Charlotte Observer reported.
The U.S. Coast Guard received a report at 4:39 p.m. that a tugboat hit an object on the river before capsizing. The call came from vessel owner Encore Dredging Partners of Mount Vernon, Ala. A deck hand escaped the tug and was rescued, but the captain was reportedly trapped in the pilothouse.
The Coast Guard did not have a waterborne asset in the area and instead dispatched an MH-60 Jayhawk air crew from Air Station New Orleans to search the river for the boat. Alabama state troopers, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency and several county responders also were involved in the search.
The incident occurred between mile marker 27 and 28 on the Alabama River, a tributary that drains into the Mobile-Tensaw Delta and Mobile Bay. Alabama state troopers recovered the captain’s body.
The 27-foot vessel was salvaged and returned to Encore Dredging Partners.
