‘I had the light’: 3 fishermen rescued by good Samaritan after boat capsizes off Cape Cod

CAPE COD — Three fishermen were rescued after their 23-foot boat capsized off Cape Cod.

According to the Hyannis Fire Chief, a nearby boat spotted the overturned boat off Squaw Island and were able to maneuver alongside it to pull the men from the water.

On that responding boat was fishermen Phillip Tran. He tells Boston 25 News a white light guided them to the overturned vessel and they immediately sprung into action.

“One person grabbed the rope, I had the light, and the captain, we just got close to them and then we got them on board and saved them,” he said.

Tran said the three men had been on top of the capsized boat for almost an hour before they were rescued. They had only been in the water for about 5 or 10 minutes before rescuers arrived, according to officials.

None of them were wearing personal flotation devices (PFDs) or survival suits.

“At that point our concern is hypothermia, you know, we’ve had certain situations that are similar with not a positive outcome, so they were very fortunate not having personal flotation devices that someone was in the area to kind of help them out,” Fire Rescue Lt. Rich Alger said.

According to the fire chief, the choppy water conditions may have contributed to the capsizing of the boat.

The harbormaster says incidents like these highlights why boat inspections are necessary.

“It’s still cold out this time of year, the sea conditions can get rough,” Brian Taylor, the harbormaster, said. “A lot of individuals aren’t really aware of what the sea conditions are here so all I would tell you is pay attention to the weather, pay attention to the fog.”

The group was transferred to a Hyannis Fire boat and returned to Lewis Bay without injuries.

This incident occurred during squid season, which typically draws fishermen out at night to the south side of Cape Cod.

Authorities say this is the third similar capsizing incident in the immediate area in recent years — each of the previous two resulted in one fatality.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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