U.S. Coast Guard rescues Bradenton captain, crewman after boat sinks

The United States Coast Guard rescued two fishermen early Monday after their 37-foot boat sank 52 miles northwest of Boca Grande early Monday.

According to the Coast Guard, at 2:27 a.m. Monday watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received multiple Mayday calls via marine radio VHF-FM channel 16 from David Gilliland, the captain of the commercial fishing boat, Ruby-D, and who is from Bradenton.

"Mayday, mayday, we are sinking! How 'bout it Coast Guard?" Gilliland can be heard yelling in the call. "How 'bout it Coast Guard? 16!"

According to Coast Guard spokesman David Schuhlein, the only other crewmember with Gilliland was Steven Maye, of Brooksville.

An MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater and a 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew from Station Cortez, Florida, were launched to the last known location of the activated EPIRB, according to the release.

EPIRB stands for Emergency position indicating radiobeacons, devices designed to save someone's life if they get into trouble by alerting rescue authorities and indicating your location, according to the U.S. Coast Guard Navigation Center.

"It alerts us that your boat is in some type of trouble," Schuhlein said. "Because of that, we were able to go right to their precise location. It takes the search out of search and rescue."

No injuries were reported.

This story was originally published March 7, 2016 at 7:53 PM with the headline "U.S. Coast Guard rescues Bradenton captain, crewman after boat sinks ."