2 boats collide in the Gulf of Mexico, 3 missing

GULFPORT, Miss. – The Coast Guard is searching for three people after two boats collided in the Gulf of Mexico off the Mississippi coast.

Ensign Israel Parker says the Eurus London, a 660-foot commercial cargo boat, and the Sandy Point, a 163-foot fishing boat, collided about eight miles south of Gulfport between Cat Island and Ship Island around 8:50 p.m. Wednesday.

Parker says the Sandy Point sank after the collision with 16 people aboard. He says a pilot boat safely recovered 11 people from the water and transferred them to another fishing vessel. Two additional crewmembers of the Sandy Point made it on their own to the Eurus London.

Coast Guard crews from across our region are searching for the missing crew using boats and plan to use helicopters and planes at daylight.