Vessel Drift After Fire; 142 Aboard

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A fishing vessel was adrift in the Bering Sea after its engine room caught fire, Coast Guard officials said. Authorities said 142 people were on board.

The Tuesday night fire on the Stellar Sea was extinguished, but it left the 316-foot processing boat without power or propulsion.

The Coast Guard dispatched a cutter to assist the boat, which was in relatively calm seas about 90 miles north of the Aleutian Island community of Dutch Harbor.

“They’re trying to figure out what the capabilities of the vessel are to make a recommendation,” Chief Petty Officer Barry Lane said Wednesday. “Right now no one is in immediate danger.”

The boat was headed from Seattle, where it is based, to tiny St. Paul Island, 275 miles north of the Aleutian chain. The Coast Guard said the boat would be towed back to Dutch Harbor, but did not have an estimated arrival time.