( CNN ) Eleven people were rescued on Thursday after their towing vessel -- carrying 75,000 gallons of diesel fuel -- sank off the coast of Oahu , according to Honolulu Coast Guard . `` Mayday , mayday , mayday . '' A radio recording released by the Coast Guard established the moment an officer sent a distress call to the base . `` Approximately two and half miles west of Barbers Point Harbor , '' the officer said , `` vessel appears to have started to sink . '' The mayday call came after the pilot of the towing vessel Nalani called the Coast Guard at 3:13 p.m. HST to report their ship was flooding and could sink . Two ships where in the vicinity and heard the distress call : the towing vessel Tiger 7 and a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration patrol boat . Both helped rescue the stranded crew members and as a result no injuries were reported , according to the Coast Guard . The Nalani , a 95-foot towing vessel , carried 75,000 gallons of diesel fuel . The vessel sank in about 2,200 feet of water . `` A flight went up prior to sunset and observed a very light oil sheen approximately three miles long by 100 yards wide , '' said Coast Guard spokesman Darin McCracken . `` There is a very small trace amount of rainbow sheet . Most of it concentrated around the position of the vessel , '' he said . The next assessment flight is scheduled for Friday morning . The cause of the sinking remains under investigation and it is probable the vessel will not be recovered , said McCracken . He said the fuel `` most likely will naturally dissipate '' but the full environmental impact has yet to be determined .
Eleven people were rescued after their vessel sank . She carried 75,000 gallons of diesel fuel . Coast Guard released mayday ##s for sinking vessel .