The US Coast Guard (USCG) is searching for at least five fishermen after a fishing vessel, the Wind Walker, capsized off Point Couverden, southwest of Juneau, off the US coast of Alaska, on Sunday (Dec. 1).

At approximately 12:10 am on Sunday, Coast Guard watchstanders received a mayday call from the crew of the Wind Walker that the 50-foot vessel was overturning. The USCG said that local conditions consisted of heavy snow, 45-60 mph winds, and six-foot seas.

USCG members attempted to gather additional information but said they received no response from the vessel. However, the USCG did receive an emergency position-indicating radio beacon alert registered to the vessel that allowed it to track the Wind Walker just south of Point Coiuverden in Icy Strait. 

The USCG issued an urgent marine information broadcast, and launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter aircrew from the Sitka station and a 45-foot response boat from the Juneau station to search for the crew. First to arrive on the scene was AMHS Hubbard, a ferry vessel that had overheard the broadcast and offered to assist.

The Marine Traffic website shows that the Wind Walker departed from Auke Bay on Nov. 30, just one day before placing its mayday call to the Coast Guard. The USCG said that it received reports from "individuals familiar with those aboard the vessel that indicate there were five people aboard."

However, the USCG noted that it has been unable to confirm that number, and it is "subject to change pending new information."

In an update posted to X in the early hours of Monday (Dec. 2), the USCG said that it is continuing to search for missing persons and that "at this time, none of the missing persons have been located."

"Seven cold-water immersion suits and two strobe lights have been located in the search water," a Coast Guard press release states, regarding what it has discovered so far.