A 47-year-old woman, her daughter and their pets were rescued from a sailboat after a man died on the craft and distress flares were launched, officials said.
Authorities were first notified of the situation when a distress alert was received by the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu at 12:33 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 24, as Hurricane Gilma approached the region. The vessel's position was about 925 miles east of Honolulu, Hawaii, according to a news release from the U.S. Coast Guard. An airplane crew was launched from the Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point.
The airplane found the 47-foot sailboat, named the Albroc, at 9 a.m. Sunday morning. The French-flagged vessel had been "beset by weather," the woman said in a mayday call. The airplane crew saw the sailboat drifting and water washing over the beam of the ship. The woman was seen lighting distress flares, and she and her daughter were also spotted waving their arms before going back inside the ship's cabin.
Despite finding the ship, the airplane crew "could not establish direct communication with the woman." Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu watchstanders then requested assistance from the U.S. Navy, which diverted the crew of the USS William P. Lawrence to the site. Watchstanders also requested the aid of the Seri Emperor, a Singapore-flagged vessel that was about 290 miles away from the sailboat.
The Seri Emperor, a gas tanker, arrived at the sailboat around 5:20 p.m. Sunday but was "unable to remove the woman and child ... due to deteriorating weather conditions" as Hurricane Gilma approached. The tanker crew remained on the scene until the USS William P. Lawrence arrived Monday morning.
With swells of more than 25 feet forecast for the area, the USS William P. Lawrence, a guided missile destroyer, had just a six-hour window to help the woman and child.
A small boat crew from the ship was able to launch and rescue the woman, the child, and their two pets - a cat and a tortoise. Waves ranged between eight and 10 feet as the small-boat operations were conducted, authorities said. "Deft handling" and "good judgment" were necessary to save the day, said U.S. Navy Commander Bobby Wayland in the news release.
"I am extremely proud of the crew's professionalism in planning and executing the safe recovery of two persons at sea on a disabled vessel in worsening conditions," said Wayland.
The deceased man could not be recovered. Officials did not give a cause of death, but referred to him as the "sailing vessel's master."
On Wednesday evening, the USS William P. Lawrence moored at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu. The woman and child disembarked from the destroyer and were met by French consulate officials and representatives from the Coast Guard.
The sailboat remains adrift. Authorities did not say if there were plans to recover the vessel.
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