Two rescued from LI Sound after boat sinks, Coast Guard says

Coast guard officials said members of a crew on a ferry serving Plum Island rescued two boaters who had been tossed into Long Island Sound after their 40-foot vessel sank Monday morning.

Petty Officer Frank Iannazzo-Simmons of Public Affairs Detachment New York said the crew of the M.S. Shahan II responded to a location two nautical miles off Old Saybrook, Connecticut, after a distress call at 8 a.m. even as Coast Guard vessels and aircraft rushed to the scene.

The boaters were found clinging to the fender of the sinking vessel -- without life jackets.

"The crew members of the M.S. Shahan II were able to safely maneuver their vessel and rescue the two people from the water," said a Coast Guard news release.

Coast Guard officials dispatched at least one vessel from New London, and an aircraft from Cape Cod. Also going to the scene were a ship from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Old Saybrook Fire Department, Iannazzo-Simmons said.

The two rescued boaters were not hurt, officials said, adding that boaters should always wear life jackets.