Local fishermen pulled a man from the ocean far off the coast of Boston early Tuesday morning after he fell from an oil tanker, the crew told NBC10 Boston.
The vessel raced back to shore to get the man to a hospital, according to the crew. The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed it was called about a person fell off the tanker, the MTM Dublin, about 4:37 a.m.
Mayday calls from the oil tanker for a man overboard were heard on the radio. The crew of the fishing vessel America said they were heading into port because of the rough conditions the tanker was experiencing and were the closest ship to vessel when it put out the mayday call.
The America's crew said they searched in pitch-black conditions for a while before they found the man in the water purely by chance, when their flashlights came upon his red-orange life vest, about a mile from where the tanker was anchored.
They said they hoisted him onto their boat and began CPR immediately, heading in as fast as they safely could go — with Boston Fire Department and U.S. Coast Guard boats following them in. They were met by Boston EMS when they docked at the Fish Pier.
Paramedics were seen continuing CPR as they rushed the man to a local hospital.
The Coast Guard said the person pulled from the water was unresponsive and that Boston EMS took over their care on land. It had no immediate information on the cause of the person's fall off the MTM Dublin.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to Boston fire and EMS for an update on the man's condition.
The crewmembers of the America said they hope their rescue efforts helped, as they knew when they heard this mayday call, they needed to act fast. They sent their best wishes to the man.
The MTM Dublin remained off the coast of Boston on Tuesday afternoon, according to its publicly available tracking information.
