An Oregon man accused of assaulting a woman on a commercial fishing ship he was operating while intoxicated was arrested after a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter located the vessel and sent a response boat to board the ship, according to federal court documents.

Branden Michael Vanderploeg of Winchester Bay is charged with assault within maritime jurisdiction and operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol.

Vanderploeg is out of custody on pre-trial release. He must undergo alcohol monitoring and participate in drug and alcohol counseling while awaiting trial.

Vanderploeg, reached by phone Tuesday, admitted he was in the wrong for drinking and was intoxicated, but he declined to discuss the alleged assault.

"We'd both been drinking, and I decided to turn the boat off and go to sleep,'' he said. "I did what I had to do to keep the vessel safe. There's two sides to each story.''

Coast Guard officials got word from an anonymous caller about 8 p.m. on Aug. 16 about a situation at sea involving a woman in distress, according to U.S. Coast Guard investigative special Agent Daniel C. Austin. The master of the ship fishing vessel "Pescadero'' had assaulted a woman, the caller said.

A U.S. Coast Guard helicopter launched from its air station in North Bend to locate the ship, which was found about 17 nautical miles from shore in the Pacific Ocean. Members of the Coast Guard's Umpqua River station then launched a response boat and crew. Two members of the response boat boarded the commercial vessel and contacted Vanderploeg, Austin wrote in a federal affidavit.

They immediately noticed a strong smell of alcohol on Vanderploeg and administered a breath alcohol test. Vanderploeg's blood-alcohol concentration was .183, Austin noted. A person operating a commercial vessel is considered intoxicated at a blood-alcohol concentration of .04 or more.

The Coast Guard crew also noticed injuries to the face, neck and arms of Vanderploeg's girlfriend, who had been prevented from leaving the ship's cabin as the U.S. Coast Guard helicopter circled overhead, Austin's affidavit said.

Vanderploeg, 38, is accused of holding the woman down, punching her repeatedly in the face, slamming her head into a tool box and swinging a fishing gaff at her – a pole with a sharp hook at the end used to stab large fish, Austin wrote.

The U.S. Coast Guard terminated Vanderploeg's fishing voyage and towed the vessel, which Vanderploeg said he owns, to Winchester Bay.

The victim was taken to a hospital and treated for her injuries. She suffered a three-inch cut to her right cheek, a nose fracture and multiple contusions to her knees and arms.

Vanderploeg made his first appearance in federal court in Eugene last week.

-- Maxine Bernstein

mbernstein@oregonian.com

503-221-8212

@maxoregonian