Responders find missing vessel, not mariner, in Willapa Bay

OCEAN PARK, Wash. – The U.S. Coast Guard said it has called off the search for a man missing after his 43-foot fishing vessel sank in Willapa Bay.

Responders searched through the night after the man’s wife reported him overdue on Saturday. They found an oil sheen and eventually the boat, but there was no sign of him.

The state Department of Ecology said Sunday that divers were planning to try to block the vessel’s vents to keep oil from leaking out and to put a tracker on the wreck, because it’s been pushed around by the tide.

The Coast Guard said the vessel reportedly could have been carrying up to 500 gallons of diesel fuel.