Coast Guard airlifts 3 fishermen

SOUTHWEST HARBOR – Three fishermen were airlifted to safety Thursday evening by a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter crew after abandoning their sinking vessel some 110 miles off the coast of Maine, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said Friday.

A Coast Guard rescue swimmer was put in the water near the fishermen’s life raft about 9 p.m. to ensure they were properly fastened to the hoist for the lift to the helicopter, Petty Officer Leslie Dykes, spokeswoman for Coast Guard Group Southwest Harbor, said.

The fishermen, who were on their way back to Maine on Friday morning, were flown to the Hyannis, Mass., airport by the Coast Guard helicopter. Dykes said none of the fishermen was injured.

The helicopter crew completed the rescue mission in about 10 minutes, Dykes said.

“There were no injuries,” she said. “Everybody was in good shape.”

The men rescued were Michael Lawless of Gloucester, Mass., Jacob Braun of New Market, N.H., and Jason Forbes of Castle Hill, Maine. Their ages were not known.

James Odlin, president of Atlantic Trawlers of Portland, was grateful his crew was unharmed. He owned three fishing vessels before the 95-foot Teresa Marie IV sank in the Atlantic at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday.

“That’s the most important thing, that the crew is safe,” Odlin said Friday.

He declined to say how much the boat was worth or whether it was insured.