The U.S. Coast Guard has located one missing mariner in the Republic of the Marshall Islands after earlier reports Saturday that a 15 foot vessel was overdue.
The National Disaster Committee of the Marshall Islands contacted the U.S. Embassy on Saturday, September 15 to advise that a small boat with one person on board had gone missing from Jaluit atoll. The Embassy notified the U.S. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu at approximately 10:00pm that same day. After issuing a safety broadcast to mariners and determining that there were no local mariners in the region to assist, Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point launched a C-130 crew to conduct a search.
The crew of the C-130 arrived on scene at approximately 12 p.m. on Sunday, September 16 and searched for two hours before spotting a similar vessel marooned on a neighboring island. The Coast Guard contacted the Australian Maritime Surveillance Advisor who directed the RMI Sea Patrol Boat LOMOR to investigate. The LOMOR was able to determine that the vessel spotted was the missing vessel and later provided assistance to the operator with getting fuel and conducting repairs in order to escort the missing boat back to Jaluit.
The U.S. Embassy would like to thank our colleagues in the U.S. Coast Guard for their quick response that once again helped save lives in the Marshall Islands.
For more information on the U.S. Coast Guard Search and Rescue, click here.
