Coast Guard Rescues 7 from Disabled Tug off Ocean City

Seven people were rescued by the US Coast Guard from a disabled tug that was towing a barge about 30 miles off the coast of Ocean City. The tug was towing the 290-foot barge from New Jersey to Guyana. A crew member on the tug “Legacy” contacted the Coast Guard around 3:30 Saturday morning after a 1000-foot tow line became entangled in their propeller and eventually the tow line snapped. As the tug tried to regain tow of the barge the tow line tangled in the other propeller making the tug inoperable. A Coast Guard vessel arrived at the scene, but the loose tow line kept them from getting close to the tug or barge. Helicopter crews from Atlantic City and North Carolina helped to rescue the seven people from the tug and took them to Ocean City with no reported injuries. A marker buoy was deployed to track the tug and barge while waiting for commercial salvage.