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sábado, 1 de junio de 2019

Coast Guard rescues 2 from capsized sailboat, 65 miles east of New Jersey

A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, supports an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Atlantic City, New Jersey, as they hoist two survivors from a capsized vessel about 65 miles east of Atlantic City, May 29, 2019. When their sailboat capsized, the mariners used their properly-registered emergency position indicating radio beacon to alert the Coast Guard to their distress. (U.S. Coast Guard video courtesy, Air Station Elizabeth City)


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Coast Guard crews rescued a man and woman from a capsized sailboat about 65 miles east of Atlantic City late Wednesday night.

The Coast Guard’s Fifth District Command Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, was notified of the vessel’s distress after receiving an alert from the crew’s Electronic Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

Watchstanders called the emergency contact registered with the EPIRB, who said the mariners have been sailing around the world for the past few years on the 55-foot wooden-hull sailboat, Bertie, and the last leg of the trip had been from the Bahamas to New York City.

The vessel was outside of range for VHF and cell reception, so watchstanders directed the Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson, an Air Station Atlantic City MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules airplane crew to the EPIRB’s location, where the sailboat was found capsized.

“When our helicopter arrived on-scene, the crew followed a blinking strobe light and discovered a man and a woman clinging to the hull of their capsized sailboat," said Lt. Tyler Bittner, the operations duty officer in Atlantic City.

Both mariners were hoisted aboard the MH-65 Dolphin helicopter and brought back to Air Station Atlantic City, where they were met by awaiting EMS.

The Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson remained on scene to mark the sailboat and attempt to recover the EPIRB.

"This was an extremely challenging hoist due to on-scene conditions, but the entire crew came together to work as a team to get the job done," said Lt. Anthony Monteforte, one of the helicopter pilots on the case. "I am extremely proud of my crew and all of the other assets that aided in this rescue and thankful that the survivors onboard used a currently registered EPIRB so that we could quickly locate them."

The crew of Coast Guard Cutter Lawrence Lawson, a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in Cape May, New Jersey, approaches a capsized 55-foot wooden sailboat about 65 miles east of Atlantic City, New Jersey, May 29, 2019. An aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, North Carolina, rescued two mariners, who they found clinging to the capsized boat’s hull. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy, Cutter Lawrence Lawson).

The two mariners aboard the vessel used their emergency position indicating radio beacon to call for help when their boat capsized. (U.S. Coast Guard photo courtesy, Cutter Lawrence Lawson).

-USCG-