PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A commercial crabbing boat capsized in rough waters off the Oregon coast, killing the three men aboard and sending a shock wave through a seafaring community already struggling from a month-long delay to the annual crabbing season.
The Coast Guard said the vessel overturned about 10 p.m. Tuesday as it crossed Yaquina Bay bar in Newport. The bar is one of the most notorious off the Oregon coast, and authorities said crews faced 14-foot waves as they tried to rescue the fishermen.
James Lacey was pulled from the ocean by helicopter and flown to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The body of Joshua Porter washed up on a beach early Wednesday.
The body of the boat’s skipper, Stephen Biernacki was found on the hull of the boat after it, too, washed up on a jetty.