U.S. Coast Guard searches for missing fishing boat crew

JUNEAU, Alaska (CNN) -- An air search was set to resume Wednesday for 14 missing crew members from the Arctic Rose fishing vessel, which sank early Monday in the Bering Sea.

A U.S. Coast Guard C-130 was to fly out of Kodiak, Alaska, to join two Coast Guard cutters, the Polar Star and the Boutwell, which have been searching continuously since Monday, said Petty Officer Douglas Green.

The ships have been fighting brutal conditions, and expect 20- to 25-foot seas with 40- to 45-mph winds Wednesday.

"It's very tough up there, very tough conditions," Green said.

The high seas and winds have prevented the Coast Guard from deploying the three helicopters it has lashed to the decks of its search ships, he said.

Fifteen crew members were on board the Arctic Rose when it sank about 200 miles northwest of St. Paul Island. Two bodies have been spotted but only one was recovered, Green said, and the ship's lone life raft was found empty.

The ship had plenty of survival suits, he said, and it may be that some crew members were able to get into them before the Arctic Rose sank. But he said time is quickly running out for finding survivors.

"We are beginning to reach the limits of survivability at this point," Green said, "even if the crew was able to get its suits on." Water temperatures are in the low 40s.

It would be "the biggest single loss of life on a commercial fishing vessel in the United States in about 20 years," said Coast Guard Public Information Officer Dan Dewell in Washington.

The Coast Guard will review the operation at the end of each day to decide whether the search will continue, Green said.

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