KAILUA-KONA— The U.S. Coast Guard is responding to a fire on an American-flagged ship 1,800 miles south of Hawaii.
The American Eagle, a 253-foot tuna fishing ship with 42 people aboard, had a fire begin some time before 8 a.m. The parent company, American Eagle LLC of Miami, alerted the Coast Guard at 8:38 a.m. and they dispatched an HC-130 Hercules to the scene.
The people aboard abandoned ship at 10 a.m. in two life rafts, three work boats and a skiff, the USCG said in a release. The airplane is expected to be in the area at 5 p.m.
The Tuvalu-flagged freighter Fong Seong 888 is headed to the scene, and her 90 mile trek was expected to end at 8 p.m.
The ship was built in 2003, grosses 2,310 tons and is registered out of Pago Pago, American Samoa, according to the USCG’s registry database.
The FCC licensing lists a maximum of 35 people aboard the vessel, with two life boats.