Fishing Vessel Disabled on High Seas

The Coast Guard is tracking and assisting a disabled and adrift fishing vessel 80 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard in the worst winter storm to hit New England so far this year. The crew of the fishing vessel Miss Judith, a 72-foot trawler homeported in Newport, R.I., radioed the Coast Guard at 9:15 p.m. Friday reporting their engines were not working. A sister ship, the Charlotte G, tried to assist but was not able to tow the vessel because of 40 to 45 mile per hour winds with gusts to 60 miles per hour and 18-foot seas. The Coast Guard is maintaining hourly radio communication with the crew of the Miss Judith and has a helicopter standing by to airlift the crew if necessary. The Coast Guard Cutter Reliance, a 210-foot medium endurance cutter homeported in Portsmouth, N.H., will leave safe harbor to assist the vessel when weather conditions permit.