Search under way for man overboard off Kodiak

The U.S. Coast Guard searched today for a fishing vessel crewman reported to have fallen overboard about 30 miles northwest of Sitkinak Island.

Sitkinak is south of Kodiak Island.

The Coast Guard said it received notification at 10:53 a.m. from the F/V Flying Ocean that one of its crewmen went overboard while crab fishing.

Winds of 20 mph and 6-foot seas were reported in the area.

The cutter Hickory, an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter and a C-130 airplane searched the last known position of the missing crewman, the Coast Guard said.

In a separate case, a Coast Guard helicopter early this morning rescued five fishermen from a Sitkinak Island beach.

They abandoned their vessel, the 58-foot Kodiak Isle, after it struck a rock and took on water.

The boat was still afloat at 2:30 a.m. when the helicopter departed the scene with the survivors, the Coast Guard said.