NEW YORK (AP) – A good Samaritan on a boat rescued six people from a sinking vessel Saturday afternoon on the East River, the U.S. Coast Guard said. The 17-foot pleasure boat was unable to navigate a stretch of water near the Hell Gate bridge in Queens with notoriously strong currents. The boat started taking on water and sent a radio distress call to the Coast Guard around 3:15 p.m.

But the pleasure boat Lisa Marie was nearby and rescued the six boaters before the Coast Guard even arrived. None of the six was wearing a life jacket, but they were in good physical condition and were not hospitalized, the Coast Guard said.

Their boat was pulled out of the strong current and taken to a nearby salvage pier by a police department vessel.

The narrow channel of the East River between Wards Island and the Astoria section of Queens is at the confluence of the Harlem River, Long Island Sound and Upper New York Harbor, which makes the current strong and hard to navigate for many boaters.

The Coast Guard didn’t know the names of the rescuers, or the six pulled from the waters.