Freighter crew safe after riding out Hurricane Ike

Freighter crew safe after riding out Hurricane Ike
Story Highlights
Ship's crew of 22 endures night without power in Gulf of Mexico

Coast Guard, Air Force had to abandon rescue because of poor conditions

Authorities onshore find it too dangerous to respond to calls for help

(CNN) -- A freighter that had been adrift in the Gulf of Mexico made it through Hurricane Ike safely and was awaiting a tugboat to bring it to shore Saturday morning.

All 22 people aboard the Antalina, a Cypriot-flagged freighter, were safe, U.S. Coast Guard spokesman Mike O'Berry said Saturday.

The freighter rode out the storm until the heaviest of winds died down Friday night, O'Berry said. It remained 170 miles southeast of Galveston, Texas, waiting for a motor tugboat to bring it back to port, he said.

Aircraft from the Coast Guard and Air Force were sent Friday afternoon to try to rescue the crew of the freighter, which is loaded with petroleum coke, a petroleum byproduct.
But high winds forced the military to abort the rescue, O'Berry said.
The Coast Guard then instructed the freighter to contact it each hour. It also told told the crew to turn on the ship's emergency radio beacon so its position could be monitored, O'Berry said. Watch the Coast Guard conduct a rescue operation »
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/weather/09/13/ike.rescue/index.html