A fishing vessel that struck a rock and began flooding near Long Island, Alaska, Thursday night was patched, refloated, and towed to port after two nearby fishing boats and a Coast Guard helicopter crew responded, the Coast Guard said.

The crew of the Emily Rose radioed a distress call over VHF at about 9:15 p.m. Thursday from waters near Long Island, which sits just off Kodiak Island near the entrance to Chiniak Bay. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic took the call. The crew reported the vessel had hit a rock and was flooding rapidly with four people aboard.

Watchstanders put out an urgent marine information broadcast and launched an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew from Air Station Kodiak. The fishing vessels Lady Sea and Jacklyn W heard the broadcast and headed for the Emily Rose.

The helicopter crew and the two fishing crews got dewatering pumps aboard the stricken boat. The Lady Sea's crew then tied the two vessels together to hold the Emily Rose pinned against the shore, keeping it from sliding into deeper water as the situation developed.

When the tide dropped and left the Emily Rose grounded, its crew patched the source of the flooding. They waited until the next high tide to test whether the patch would hold.

It did. The Lady Sea towed the Emily Rose roughly 11 miles to Fuller Boat Yard in Kodiak for damage assessment and repairs. The Coast Guard Cutter Frederick Mann, a 154-foot fast response cutter, came on scene to escort the vessels and monitor the tow.

No injuries were reported.

Lt. Cmdr. Amanda Faulkner, search and rescue mission coordinator at Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic, credited the outcome to other mariners in the area and to their radios being on.

"Emily Rose and her crew made it home safe today because Alaskan mariners show up for each other and were monitoring Channel 16 for emergency broadcasts," Faulkner said. "Thank you to the relentless efforts of the crews of the Lady Sea, Jacklyn W, and the many others willing to respond last night."