SAN DIEGO - Members of a San Diego-based Coast Guard crew are being hailed as heroes after helping save five people stranded on a sinking tugboat.

The tugboat called "Polar Wind" ran aground off the coast of Cold Bay, Alaska on Tuesday evening. The tugboat, five crew members and 90 cargo containers were 20 miles out, east of the shore.

San Diego-based crew members of the Coast Guard cutter Sherman went looking for them. Video of the rescue shows the crew working in nothing more than the shine of flashlights.

They dropped the rescue cages in the dark of night with nothing below them but icy water. One by one, the five of them were hoisted to safety and put aboard the Sherman for a trip home.

The rescue was conducted in 8-foot sea swells and 40 mph winds.