Tanker & Crew Boat Collide

Sailors & Mariners League has learned one of the four crew members rescued from a capsized boat Thursday morning is in, quote, “extremely critical condition” at a local hospital. The other three members rescued have been treated a local hospitals and released. The Rene 1Coast Guard boat crews from Station Sabine, said they rescued three men from the Sabine Channel, and a fourth crewman was rescued by another vessel, after a tanker and a crew boat collided just before noon today. A watchstander at Coast Guard Marine Safety Office Port Arthur received a call at 11:35 a.m. from the Sabine pilot`s association reporting that the 784-foot tanker Genmar Strength and the 101-foot crew boat Rene 1 had collided in the Sabine Channel between the jetties where the channel enters the Gulf of Mexico. The Rene 1 capsized and sank with four Sailors aboard. A boat crew from Coast Guard Station Sabine was immediately dispatched and rescued two Sailors from the water near the Rene I. A third Sailor, found unconscious, was rescued from the capsized boat. The crew of a Sabine pilot boat rescued the fourth crewmember. All were taken to shore where awaiting EMS personnel transported them to local hospitals. The Genmar Strength is at anchor three miles offshore. The Coast Guard says there is no report of pollution or injuries aboard the tanker. The Sabine Ship Channel is closed until further notice. The cause of the collision is under investigation. The Rene 1 before the collision