Rescued from a sailboat offshore Hawaii were a woman, a child, a tortoise, and a cat.
The body of a man who had passed away was unable to be retrieved from the boat securely.
A distressed woman, her daughter, and their pets, a cat and a tortoise, were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy from a sailboat that had been hit by bad weather about 925 miles off the coast of Hawaii.
An emergency radio beacon emitted a distress signal approximately 925 miles east of Hawaii at around 12:30 p.m. on Aug. 24, prompting watchstanders at Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) Honolulu to receive the alert, as stated in a Coast Guard news release.
A SafetyNET broadcast was issued by the watchstanders, who searched for the stranded people in the sailboat using a HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and a query of vessels in the area.
A 47-foot French-flagged vessel named Albroc and its 47-year-old female crew member were spotted by an airplane crew. The woman on board issued a mayday call, stating that she, her seven-year-old daughter, and their pets required rescue.
The woman also said that there was a deceased man on the boat.
The woman on the sailboat was unable to communicate with the Hercules crew, but they saw her lighting distress flares and drifting with the waves, according to the Coast Guard.
The crew of USS William P. Lawrence (DDG 110) was requested to assist the sailboat's position by the Watchstanders, who also requested help from the master of the Seri Emperor, a 754-foot Singapore-flagged liquid petroleum gas tanker that was approximately 290 miles south of the sailboat.
On Aug. 25 at 9 a.m., a Hercules crew observed a woman and girl waving their arms before entering the cabin. Despite attempting to communicate with the two boaters through radio hailing and message blocks, the aircrew was unsuccessful.
On August 26, from 5:20 p.m. to 5 a.m., the Seri Emperor tried to rescue the boaters but was unable to due to the deteriorating weather conditions ahead of Hurricane Gilma. Meanwhile, the tanker crew stayed near the stranded sailboat until the William P. Lawrence arrived.
According to the Coast Guard, William P. Lawrence had a six-hour window to safely conduct boat recovery operations, as seas greater than 25 feet were forecast within 12 hours of their position and the sailboat was in a damaged condition.
"U.S. Navy Cmdr. Bobby Wayland, commanding officer of William P. Lawrence, expressed his pride in the crew's professionalism in rescuing two persons at sea on a disabled vessel in worsening conditions. He praised the boat crew, particularly the coxswain, for their deft boat handling and good judgement in approaching the distressed vessel and transferring the survivors. Wayland also commended the remarkable coordination and information provided by the USCG throughout the entire operation, noting it was cool to see the Navy and Coast Guard teamwork together so smoothly."
The Navy ship's small boat crew rescued the woman, girl, and pets from the sailboat, but due to the severe weather conditions, including 8-10 foot seas and 15 mph winds, the deceased man could not be safely recovered.
"Vice Adm. John Wade, commander of U.S. 3rd Fleet, expressed his pride in the combined efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy in saving the lives of two other passengers. He also commended the professionalism of the crew of USS William P. Lawrence who executed the rescue flawlessly under extremely dangerous conditions."
On Aug. 28 at 5 p.m., the William P. Lawrence arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu and was greeted by representatives from the Coast Guard and the Honorary Consul of France in Hawaii, who offered assistance to the survivors.
"Our watchstanders, through meticulous planning, coordination, and teamwork, successfully assembled the necessary components for a highly dynamic search and rescue mission," said Kevin Cooper, search and rescue mission coordinator at JRCC Honolulu. "The deployment of an EPIRB was also critical, enabling our aircrews and partners to locate the sailboat. We are grateful that the crews of the Seri Emperor and William P. Lawrence were able to reach the mother and daughter, who were caught in the path of Hurricane Gilma."
The sailboat is still drifting approximately 1,000 miles east of Honolulu, according to the Coast Guard.
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