A Portland-based Coast Guard cutter responded Monday to a report of a tall ship sinking off the coast of Gloucester, Massachusetts, but by the time the cutter arrived, the ship’s crew had been evacuated.

Scott McCann, a Coast Guard spokesman in South Portland, said the crew of the Coast Guard cutter Ocracoke had just undergone a major overhaul and was preparing for its first mission on Monday when it was called to Massachusetts. Ocracoke, which was commissioned in 1986, had operated in Florida for a number of years. It replaced the cutter Jefferson Island.

Coast Guard lifeboat crews directed the crew of Liana's Ransom to don immersion suits and prepare to abandon ship. Nine crewmembers were rescued from the Canadian tall ship 58 miles east of Gloucester, on Monday after the vessel's engines stopped and its sails became wrapped around the mast. Courtesy U.S. Coast Guard

U.S. Coast Guard cutter Ocracoke leaves Naval Base Guantanamo Bay in this May 2008 photo. USCG photo

According to a press release issued by the Coast Guard, the Canadian tall ship Liana Ransom issued a call for help at 12:35 a.m. Monday. Its crew reported that the vessel’s engines had become disabled and its sails had become wrapped around its mast during a storm. The ship was located about 30 miles offshore.

Two motorboat lifeboat crews from a Coast Guard station in Gloucester responded. The boats tried to tow the ship back to shore but the tow lines broke in rough seas. The nine Canadian crewmen donned immersion suits and abandoned ship. One man suffered a head injury after leaping from the ship and was airlifted to Massachusetts General Hospital by a Coast Guard helicopter.

The crew of the Ocracoke was standing by the disabled ship on Monday night, waiting for a salvage crew to arrive to tow the ship into port.

The Ocracoke is captained by Lt. Anna McNeil. Her second in command is Executive Officer Becky Redstone. The Ocracoke has a crew of 16.

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