Three Oahu fishermen remain lost at sea while the Coast Guard continues the search with help from the U.S. Navy and the Honolulu Fire Department.
Jensen Loo, Clint Klint Oshima, and Derek Tomas left Haleiwa Boat Harbor early Sunday morning and were supposed to return that night.
Their capsized boat, Tomas’ 20-foot Iwa, was found about 25 miles offshore from Haleiwa, but there’s been no sign of the fishermen.
Three days into the search, family members and rescuers remain hopeful. The mission is still classified as a search-and-rescue effort that will likely continue through the night.
According to the Coast Guard, there were life vests on board and family members say there was also a large cooler that the men could have held onto as a flotation device.
We’re still hopeful, said Coast Guard spokesman John Lercara. We wouldn’t be out there searching if we didn’t feel that they were alive. We enter all that info into a computer-based model and that’ll determine the survivability.
The Coast Guard’s C130 plane and a helicopter have been searching from the sky with some help from Navy aircraft. Out at sea, the Coast Guard cutter Ahi and a patrol boat are roaming the search area while Honolulu firefighters comb the shoreline.
As the days pass, the search area gets bigger. It’s now about 100 nautical miles from Oahu’s North Shore to Kauai.
Family members, have been waiting patiently at the harbor for any news.
I know that my brother Jensen, he’s an experienced fisherman. He’s been doing this for years and he has a real love and passion. He does it almost every Sunday and I just want to put this in God’s hands for all three of them to have a safe return home, said Loo’s sister, Aubry Awai.
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