"Rescued just in the nick of time," a release from the U.S. Coast Guard states.
Three boaters were overdue, and the Coast Guard pulled two of them from the water near Venice, as they were fending off sharks.
Coast Guard Sector New Orleans watchstanders received a call at 8:43 p.m. from Plaquemines Parish Sheriff's Office personnel reporting a 20-foot recreational vessel with three persons aboard that struck a jetty. Watchstanders coordinated the launch of a Coast Guard Station Venice 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boatcrew and Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans MH-60 Jayhawk aircrew to assist.
The helicopter crew arrived on scene, embarked two boaters, and transferred them to University Medical Center New Orleans. The Plaquemines Parish Fire Department located the remaining boater, who was found unresponsive.
The two boaters were last reported to be in stable condition.
U.S. Coast Guard Station Venice, with assistance from U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Corpus Christi, located them, and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station New Orleans hoisted one overdue boater from the water and transferred them to University Medical Center New Orleans.
The Coast Guard searched an area spanning 1,250 square miles, slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island, in order to locate the men.
The Coast Guard initiated their search after a concerned family member reported them overdue on Saturday evening.
Overall, the boaters spent more than 24 hours in the water after their boat sank at approximately 10 a.m. Saturday morning, stranding them without communication devices.
