Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A Florida man was killed and another man hospitalized after their boat sank off Cape May, New Jersey, US.

The Sea Wolf sent a distress signal via emergency satellite beacon at about 1:35 AM on Thursday, seven miles off Cape May. A member of the State Police informed the Coast Guard who sent out an MH-65 rescue helicopter and two rescue launches.

The helicopter managed to save Steve Hopkins of the District of Columbia but was unable to do the same for Gregory Arlotta of Florida. The 62 year old disappeared among the debris in eight-foot waves.

Arlotta had recently bought the vessel in New York; its previous owner was in his seventies and had decided to sell the ship. The Sea Wolf had been operating for a couple of decades prior to the sinking, and was described by one local as unfit for the voyage it was undertaking to New Orleans. A 1963 Gilligan, it was designed for use within ten miles of shore for fishing.