ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) – The U.S. Coast Guard and good Samaritans are currently conducting an active search after the fishing vessel Wind Walker capsized early Sunday near Point Couverden, the southern tip of a small island in southeast Alaska.

At 12:10 a.m. the emergency call came in that a 50-foot fishing boat had capsized. An emergency positioning beacon (EPIRB) registered on the Wind Walker was activated and located the distress signal south of Point Couverden in Icy Strait.

Coast Guard Sector Southeast Alaska issued an urgent naval briefing and deployed an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter from Air Force Station Sitka and a 45-foot strike boat from Station Juneau to search the area. The ferry AMHS Hubbard also responded and arrived before the other searchers.

Petty Officer John Hightower spoke to Alaska’s News Source on Sunday about the ongoing effort, saying the Coast Guard Cutter Healy is their primary search platform for now.

“They are the most resilient to the weather in this area. “We dispatched crews from Coast Guard Station Juneau,” Hightower said by phone. “With their smaller boats, the weather can be very rough on the boats out there.”

Search teams recovered seven cold-water diving suits and two flashlights from the water, but found no trace of the missing people. There were reportedly five people on board the ship, but that number has not been confirmed.

Despite what Hightower described as “online rumors,” no passengers have been found so far.

The US Coast Guard published a post to X on Sunday addressing the same false claims: “We are aware of reports on social media claiming that individuals involved in this incident have been located . “At this time, the CG has not confirmed these allegations and is continuing its search efforts.”

Hightower stated that the EPIRB distress signal indicated their last location and crews based their search efforts on the information provided. However, the passengers were still missing after crews located the physical beacon.

Heavy snow, winds of 45-60 mph and 6-foot seas have created difficult conditions for search efforts.

Hightower said late Sunday evening that search efforts were expected to continue throughout the night, but ultimately the search and rescue squad would make the decision to suspend the search.

“We are exhausting every resource at our disposal to find the crew members and everyone else on board and bring them home safely,” Hightower said.

Anyone with information about the missing people or the incident is asked to contact the Coast Guard Southeast Alaska at (907) 463-2980.

This is a developing story. Stay with Alaska’s News Source for updates.

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