Baltimore Good-Will Ship Sinks; 4 of Crew Missing

The Pride of Baltimore, a replica of a 19th-Century clipper ship, sank in high winds while returning from a good-will mission to Europe last week and eight of its 12 crew members were plucked from a life raft today by a Japanese tanker, officials said.

Four of the crew members, including two women, are still missing, the Coast Guard said.

The 129-foot ship, owned by the City of Baltimore, carried a crew of eight men and four women.

A Coast Guard petty officer in Miami said six men and two women were picked up at 3 a.m. today after spending almost five days drifting in a life raft. The survivors reported that the ship was hit by 80-m.p.h. winds east of the Bahamas last Wednesday.

“They were on the deck, and a wind got them from nowhere. It caught the sail and rolled the vessel,” the Coast Guard spokesman said. “Four people never made it to the life raft.”

The Coast Guard said the survivors will be airlifted off the tanker Toro today and taken to San Juan, Puerto Rico, for medical evaluations.

Names of all 12 crew members were withheld pending notification of relatives.

The Pride, built in 1976 to celebrate America’s bicentennial, was returning from a 15-month good-will mission in Europe and was expected in Baltimore June 14. The ship was to take part in 100th-anniversary ceremonies for the Statue of Liberty.

The vessel left Europe on March 31, cutting short its trip because officials were worried about terrorism overseas.