71-year-old tugboat sank off south of Puerto Rico

Three people were rescued from a 71-year-old tugboat that sunk Thursday south of Puerto Rico.

The U.S. Coast Guard stated that its Sector San Juan watchmen received a Mayday call from the crew of the 112-foot U.S.-flagged Proassist III tug, reporting that they were on the water about two miles south of Yabucoa Harbor.

A Samaritan embarked the three people from the 1949-built tug and took them ashore with no reported injuries. A Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen helicopter crew detected a sheen starting roughly on Friday. It is estimated that the tug has about 1,100 gallons of diesel fuel on board.

NOAA said a trajectory and oil fate forecast prediction was requested by the Coast Guard.

Personnel from the Sector San Juan Incident Management Division are working with the owner of the tug to establish a rescue plan that requires extracting all diesel fuel from the vessel.

Maritime Business World