Rescued Lone Sailor Abandons Sailing Vessel
Coast Guard crews coordinated with Bermuda Maritime Operations and commercial vessels to rescue a man approximately 225 nautical miles NNE of Bermuda on Monday [June 2].
A Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre spokesperson said, “RCC Boston called Bermuda Radio to request any information held on S/V Vagrant, and to report that the vessel was diverting to Bermuda. Bermuda Radio called RCC Boston at 2:45pm on the 2nd of June.
“It was reported that the single handed sailor intended to abandon 225 nm NNE of Bermuda. The US Coast Guard launched two fixed wing aircraft and diverted two merchant ships. M/V Kuala Lumpur Express launched a rescue boat to pick up the sailor at 6:00pm June 2nd.”
A Coast Guard spokesperson said, “Watchstanders at the 1st Coast Guard District Command Center in Boston, Massachusetts, received notification at 9.30pm Sunday. from the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Halifax, Nova Scotia, that the Belgium-flagged 42-foot sailing vessel Vagrant, with one person on board, was taking on water at a rate of one gallon-per-hour and was experiencing heavy winds and seas.
“When the vessel missed scheduled satellite phone calls Monday morning, the Coast Guard immediately launched an HC-144 Ocean Sentry from Air Station Cape Cod and a C-130 Hercules aircraft from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C. to try to locate the vessel. The USS New York and multiple commercial vessels also responded to assist.
“Overcoming limited information on the vessel’s location and planned course, the C-130 crew spotted the sailing vessel adrift with tattered sails. Unable to raise the vessel on the radio, the C-130 dropped a communications package, but 40-knot winds and 16-foot seas prevented the sole crewmember from the Vagrant from recovering it.
“The motor vessel Kuala Lumpur Express was the first commercial vessel on scene and made a close quarters pass to formulate a rescue plan. The motor vessel Hoegh Maputo arrived for secondary support.
“The crew of the Kuala Lumpur Express made a second pass and lowered a small boat to extract the man from the vessel. The crew reported that the man was in good health and uninjured.”
“The successful rescue of the sole crewmember of the S/V Vagrant under such challenging conditions is a testament to the tenacity, teamwork and professionalism of First District Command Center Operations Unit Watchstanders, the crews of the responding Coast Guard aircraft, and the masterful seamanship of the master and crew of the Kuala Lumpur Express” said Lt. Bryce Van Cleef, the command duty officer at the 1st Coast Guard District Command Center.
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Category: Accidents and fires, All
give that man the bill for all this!
we need to make it easyer to come to Bermuda by boat some how.
maybe a few substations. regament could man them