According to the US Coast Guard, at least one person was pronounced dead and a dozen missing on Wednesday after a commercial watercraft overturned near the coast of the southeastern state of Louisiana. 

A fleet of rescue boats were deployed to find the vessel named Seacor Power, which was 129 feet long, along with the 19 person crew aboard. The vessel was hit by a storm about 100 miles from New Orleans on Tuesday, reported AFP.

Also Read: At least 2 dead in Louisiana storm as weather threat issued along northern Gulf Coast

Around 4:30 pm on the day of the incident, Will Wastson, the Coast Guard Captian on duty received distress signals from the storm-him watercraft.

While the rescue boats found one person dead, half a dozen survivors out of a crew of 19 were brought to safety.

Watson said, “The search effort continues for the remaining 12. We are saturating the area with available resources to assist in the rescue mission”, reported AFP.

Also Read: Brenda Mallory becomes first Black American to head WH environmental council

A lift vessel is a barge with a large flat deck and giant legs attached to it. They are commonly used in offshore oil and gas operations.

While traveling, lift vessels carry their legs in the air, and upon reaching their destination the legs are pushed to the ocean floor and the flat deck is raised from the water, reported AFP.