Reports of unmanned boat lead rescuers to missing lobsterman, Massachusetts officials say

Reports of an unmanned lobster boat lead rescuers to a missing lobsterman, Massachusetts officials said.

The U.S. Coast Guard was notified of the unmanned vessel in the Plymouth Harbor around 1:05 p.m. on Nov. 14 by the harbormaster, Coast Guard spokesperson Petty Officer Ryan Noel told McClatchy News over the phone.

A Coast Guard helicopter was already in the area and was rerouted to assist the Plymouth Harbormaster “in search of the area for any possible people in distress,” Noel said.

After a roughly three hour search, a missing lobsterman, whose name was not released, was spotted by the helicopter, unresponsive and floating in the water wearing fishing bibs.

The harbormaster pulled the man, who was not wearing a life jacket, out of the water.

“We continued to search within the immediate area for any additional people who are in signs of distress,” Noel said.

The Coast Guard declined to comment on the current condition of the lobsterman and referred additional questions to the harbormaster.

The man was taken to a local hospital after he was pulled from the water, Boston.com reported.

McClatchy News has reached out to the Plymouth Harbormaster for additional information.

Julia Marnin

McClatchy DC

Julia Marnin covers courts for McClatchy News, writing about criminal and civil affairs, including cases involving policing, corrections, civil liberties, fraud, and abuses of power. As a reporter on McClatchy’s National Real-Time Team, she’s also covered the COVID-19 pandemic and a variety of other topics since joining in 2021, following a fellowship with Newsweek. Born in Biloxi, Mississippi, she was raised in South Jersey and is now based in New York State.