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Man Clings to Cooler to Survive After Boat Capsizes; 1 Dead

Chartered ship out of San Felipe was sold out for four-night trip. Thirty-seven passengers have been rescued or swam ashore.

A chartered ship on a Fourth of July fishing trip out of San Felipe was capsized by two rogue waves in Mexico's Sea of Cortez early Sunday, leaving one person confirmed dead and seven missing, U.S. and Mexican authorities reported this morning. 

As of Tuesday, 37 people had been pulled from the water or swam ashore.

A C-130 Hercules aircraft was deployed out of Sacramento this morning to aid in the search for survivors, said Coast Guard Petty Officer 2d Class Henry Dunphy. The C-130 is used for long-range search-and-rescue operations, Dunphy said. It was called for in this search because survivors may have drifted away from the point where the ship capsized. The Mexican navy is also involved in the search.

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The ship, called the Erik, was sold out for a four-night trip to the fertile fishing grounds off Baja California. It is operated by Baja Sportfishing out of San Diego, which said on its website today that "Due to events occurring at this moment, all further trips are cancelled.''

Most of the passengers aboard the were from San Francisco, the Coast Guard reported. The Erik is a "mother ship,'' with supplies, sleeping berths and a galley for a fleet of panga boats that take fishermen to spots in the northern end of the Sea of Cortez. 

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Survivors included Charles Gibson, 57, the police chief of the Contra Costa Community College District in Martinez, Calif. In a telephone interview with the Associated Press from San Felipe, Gibson said that he was aboard the ship, “sleeping like a baby” when crew and fellow passengers sounded the alarm that the ship was sinking.

Another survivor, Michael Ng of Belmont, Calif., said the boat was less than 2 miles from shore when it overturned and that several passengers stayed afloat and swam with the help of a cooler, according to a report by the Associated Press. He, another passenger and a cook were headed for shore when they were rescued by another fishing boat.

The vessel sank near Isla San Luis, Baja California, with 44 people aboard around 2:30 a.m. Sunday, according to the Coast Guard. Most passengers swam to shore, and some were rescued by other boats.

One-foot waves and good visibility mean "fairly decent conditions'' for
searching, said Dunphy. Chances for survival "depend on several factors, such as did they have access to lifejackets and were they wearing them; are there any flotation devices or other survival gear present," Dunphy said. Water temperatures are warm.

In a statement, Baja Sportfishing wrote: "We are devastated by this horrible tragedy. Every effort is being made to assist the authorities
in the search. Our thoughts and prayers continue to be with the families.''

The dead passenger was not immediately identified.

  • Marcelino Morales-Villegas
  • Roman Amador-Farias
  • Jose Maria Diaz-Ordoñez
  • Marco Antonio Villa-Bejarano
  • Azor Quintana-Romo
  • Robert Higgins
  • Ross Anderson
  • Charles Gibson
  • Gary Hanson
  • Isael Kui Mingng
  • Jim Miller
  • Richard Ciadattari
  • Lee Ikegami
  • Gary Wong
  • Craig Wong
  • Fius Zuger
  • David Leving
  • Bruce Marr
  • Adolph Joseph Beler
  • Michael Ng
  • Jerry Garcia

—City News Service contributed to this report

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