Twelve people have been rescued by the United States Coast Guard from their vessel taking on water in Cuban territorial seas Saturday.
On Saturday, watchstanders at the Coast Guard 7th District command center received notification that the Haitian Flagged, 120-ft coastal freighter, Granam ST Anne, was taking on water in Cuban territorial seas.
Two helicopters including a Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater helicopter forward deployed in the Bahamas as part of Operation Bahamas Turks and Caicos and a Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-65 Dolphin rescue helicopter were dispatched to the scene.
Upon arriving on scene, the crew of the coastal freighter had already abandoned ship into a life raft. The Jayhawk helicopter crew hoisted nine of the crewmembers and the Dolphin helicopter crew hoisted the remaining three. All 12 were transferred to Great Inagua, Bahamas.
Rescued were one Jamaican, two Nicaraguan, one U.S., and eight Haitian crewmembers.
No medical concerns were reported.