KAILUA-KONA — U.S. Coast Guard personnel assisted a distressed Canadian mariner to Hilo on Sunday after his 44-foot vessel began taking on water about 80 miles southeast of Hawaii Island.
Coast Guard watchstanders received an emergency position indicating radio beacon alert at 3:21 a.m. Sunday prompting the launch of a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Air Station Barbers Point, a follow-on Coast Guard MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and the Oliver Berry crew, according to the Coast Guard.
The Hercules aircrew located the vessel in the first leg of their search pattern about 70 miles southeast of Hilo, established communication with the man and dropped survival equipment including a de-watering pump. The Dolphin helicopter crew lowered a rescue swimmer to the Helen Margaret.
The rescue swimmer was able to retrieve and operate the pump successfully to begin to de-water the vessel. The Oliver Berry crew arrived on scene at 7:47 a.m. and escorted the 73-year-old mariner to port aboard the 44-foot Canadian-flagged sailing vessel once the flooding was under control.
The Coast Guard was initially alerted to the possibility of the mariner being overdue May 12 on a voyage from Panama City, Panama, to Honolulu. The reporting source stated the mariner missed a scheduled check-in on April 28. He was reportedly well-equipped for a long journey, the Coast Guard said.
Watchstanders from the Joint Rescue Coordination Centers in Alameda, California and Honolulu have been working the case since through communications call outs, broadcasts, partners, and periodic searches as supporting search area data allowed.