Miami - All 28 crewmen of a stricken British-owned cargo ship were rescued by US helicopters yesterday as it lurched in a wind-swept, churning Atlantic Ocean north of the Bahamas, the US Coast Guard said.
The 28 men jumped into the chilly waters to be hoisted onto the helicopters as winds made it impossible to lift them from the ship's deck. The 493-foot Merchant Patriot began sinking yesterday morning 270 miles east of Cape Canaveral, Florida, after a water pipe ruptured in the engine room and flooded the vessel.
It was travelling from Praia Mole, Brazil, to Savannah, Georgia, with general cargo including containers and heavy steel, a spokesman for its owners, Peter Harris, said from London. Five US Air Force and Coast Guard helicopters from bases in Florida and the Bahamas flew out on the rescue mission.