Cape Fear, N.C. ? Two sailors aboard a tugboat died when their boat sank about 40 miles off Cape Fear in gale-force wind and high seas, the Coast Guard said Wednesday as a search continued for one sailor who remained missing.

The 135-foot tugboat Valour began sinking late Tuesday while pulling a 500-foot barge loaded with about 5.5 million gallons of petroleum byproduct.

The tug’s crew called the Coast Guard for help after one sailor fell overboard. That crew member made it back aboard the ship, said Petty Officer Lawrence Chambers. A Coast Guard helicopter rescued another sailor and took him to a hospital in Myrtle Beach, S.C., where he remained Wednesday.

Another tugboat rescued five other sailors before the Valour sank.

One victim’s body was discovered when the Valour’s owner, Maritrans Inc., found the sunken boat. Chambers said the body of the second victim, believed to have been aboard the tug when it sank, had not been found.