Three Crewmen Safe After FV Northern Pride Catches Fire

Petty Officer 1st Class Jon Emerson assists three men out of a Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter after a search and rescue mission 57 miles from Kodiak, April 21, 2015. The men were rescued off a raft after their fishing vessel Northern Pride caught fire in the engine room. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Diana Honings) 

Jay Barrett/KMXT

An 82-foot fishing tender en route from Seward caught fire northeast of Marmot Island early Tuesday afternoon, with three crewmen aboard.  The crew of the Northern Pride issued a mayday shortly after 2 p.m. and abandoned ship , according to the U.S. Coast Guard. 

The Good Samaritan vessel Dancer relayed the mayday to Coast Guard headquarters in Anchorage.

Northern Pride skipper Scott Beckstrom said in a Coast Guard release that the fire was too smokey and they couldn’t fight it. He said they then donned their survival suits, launched their life raft and turned on the EPIRB and were rescued within an hour.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter responded from Air Station Kodiak and hoisted the three men from the life raft in Stevenson Entrance, about 60 miles north of Kodiak Island, and brought them to Kodiak. No injuries were reported and all three crewmen were reported in good condition. 

Weather on scene was comparatively mild with gusts to 20 mph and sees three- to four-feet.

Though no signs of pollution were seen at the time of the rescue, the fate of the Northern Pride is currently unknown.