Three sailors have been rescued from a lifeboat following the sinking of the 164′ tug supply boat Bourbon Rhode in Hurricane Lorenzo. The remaining eleven crew members are missing.

The tug had sent a distress signal on Thursday and a rescue effort was mounted by the French and US governments assisted by commercial ships. The tug’s owner confirmed in a press release on Saturday that the Bourbon Rhode had sunk.

Weather.com reports that French Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MMRC) manager Philippe Bricquer said, “We have found a life raft with three persons on board. Two of them are a little bit tired but the last one is in very good condition. We know that there were four life rafts on this ship. We found one. I’m not sure that the three others left the ship.”

Lorenzo was a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds up to 130 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. Waves reached more than 20 feet, with the possibility of considerably higher surf at times. It was also one of the furthest east major hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean. Bricquer said it was not yet known why or how the tugboat got caught up in the storm.