The Coast Guard received an emergency call from the ship’s owner Sunday after the 80-foot, three-masted vessel lost power and started taking on water,
A sailing vessle loses power when the wind stops.
A motor-sailer, especially with all sails reefed, loses power when the motor fails.
I've never sailed on anything as big as that, but even a single-masted sloop is easier to deal with under motor power than trying to haul sheets and yards about in a storm. It also allows most of the folks aboard to stay relatively dry inside.
Seems when the motor stopped the pumps stopped and either the hand pumps were not sufficient or they did not have any.
As risky as it is, it is more prudent to get into a modern life raft as early on in the unfolding drama as is possible. You can always climb out afterwards and look for your boat (please do NOT tie your raft to your boat - although I have seen folks do that during practice drills). Once the seas start getting rough it is more difficult to move about - haven't we all watch
Deadliest Catch often enough to know that? The thing is, there is usually a very short period of time between "as early on in the unfolding drama" and "Oh, fudge! It's too late and we're all gonna die!".
Prayers for the missing. I'm not sure how far off shore they were when they went over, so can't begin to guess if they even have a chance of being driven onto the beach.
stay safe.