Written by Rober Zullo
A Coast Guard cutter is continuing the search for a 51-year-old fisherman who was working on a Dulac tuna boat in the Gulf of Mexico Sunday when he went overboard.
The Captain Luu, a 61-foot-long liner, was about 12 miles south of
His name has not been released pending notification of his family in
“We still have not been able to contact the family, so we’re not releasing the name,†Coast Guard Lt. Stephen Nutting said this morning.
The cutter Pompano, an 87-foot patrol boat, is searching a 42-square-mile area that is about 30 miles southwest of Cocodrie. The search pattern is based on computer models that use wind and current data to calculate the likely location of the fisherman after nearly two days in the open water, Nutting said.
“The winds and the currents have pushed (the search) out to the west and away from the shore,†he said.
Though a helicopter searched for the missing man Sunday and Monday, the search-and-rescue operation has since been scaled back.
Nutting said the Coast Guard will “reevaluate†the search once the Pompano completes the present search pattern.
No one aboard the Captain Luu saw the fisherman go overboard.
“From what I know, he went to use the restroom outside, and they couldn’t find him 20 minutes later,†said Jimmy Le, an officer worker at Steven’s Seafood in Dulac, where the Captain Luu’s crew sells their catch.
The Coast Guard is conducting an investigation into the incident, a standard procedure in injuries or fatalities at sea.