Gallery: Three stranded offshore workers rescued from oil rig in U.S. waters

The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) has carried out a successful rescue mission of three offshore workers from an oil rig off the coast of the United States after the workers’ vessel sank near Freeport, Texas.

The incident occurred on Sunday, 21 May 2023, and the Coast Guard Sector Houston-Galveston watchstanders received a report at approximately 3 a.m. from Matagorda County Sheriff’s Office that three men were stranded on an offshore oil rig platform with no position after their vessel began taking on water.

Following the call, the watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and directed the launch of a Coast Guard Station Freeport 45-foot response boat–medium crew and diverted an HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew to assist.

Once the aircrew crew located the survivors, it relayed their position to the boat crew. After the boat crew arrived on the scene, the three men were taken aboard and brought to Surfside Marina. According to the Coast Guard, all boaters were reportedly in stable condition.

Over the past few months, the U.S. Coast Guard’s assistance was required multiple times in the oil and gas sector. The most recent case entailed a medevac of a crew member from one of Allseas’ vessels located approximately 13 miles south of Port Fourchon, Louisiana.