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Press Release | May 12, 2023

PHOTOS AVAILABLE: Coast Guard, tugboat crew rescue 2 from capsized boat near Freeport, Texas

Coast Guard PADET Texas - Office: (281) 464-4810 / After Hours: (832) 293-1293

A capsized 16-to-20-foot pleasure craft sits west of the Brazos Locks near Freeport, Texas, May 12, 2023. The crew of the tugboat Lucas Paul Devall rescued two boaters from the water after the vessel capsized; a 29-foot Response Boat–Small crew from Coast Guard Station Freeport then brought the men ashore. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Eppinga) A capsized 16-to-20-foot pleasure craft sits west of the Brazos Locks near Freeport, Texas, May 12, 2023. The crew of the tugboat Lucas Paul Devall rescued two boaters from the water after the vessel capsized; a 29-foot Response Boat–Small crew from Coast Guard Station Freeport then brought the men ashore. (U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Eppinga)

Editor's Note: Click on images to download high-resolution version.

HOUSTON — The Coast Guard and a tugboat crew rescued two boaters whose vessel capsized near Freeport, Texas, Friday.

Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report at 1:10 p.m. via VHF-FM channel 16 that two men were in the water near the west gate of the Brazos Locks after their 16-to-20-foot pleasure craft capsized. The men were not wearing life jackets.

Watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Freeport 29-foot Response Boat–Small crew to assist.

The crew of the nearby 67-foot tugboat Lucas Paul Devall launched their skiff and pulled both boaters out of the water. The Coast Guard boat crew arrived on scene, took aboard the two men, and brought them ashore to emergency medical services personnel waiting at Station Freeport. Both boaters were reportedly in stable condition.

The capsized vessel is tied off to a tree outside the channel, west of the Brazos Locks.

“It is critical for boaters to wear life jackets at all times underway,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Joshua Walker, operations specialist, Sector Houston-Galveston. “Accidents on the water often happen quickly, and it’s difficult to locate and don a life jacket in the middle of an emergency.”

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-USCG-