Archive image: A Coast Guard Air Station Borinquen MH-60T Jayhawk helicopter aircrew and the crew of a Boat Forces St. Thomas 33-foot Special Purpose Craft – Law Enforcement medevaced a passenger from the sailing vessel Orion Nov. 29, approximately 18 nm south of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands.
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Ricardo Castrodad.
ST THOMAS, U.S.Virgin Islands – Coast Guard and Virgin Islands Search and Rescue units rescued three sailors near Horseshoe Reef, approximately 6 nautical miles southeast of Anegada, British Virgin Islands. Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Rescued are three adults, who reportedly were forced to abandon the sailing vessel Quartz, a 33-foot catamaran, after the vessel struck the rocks and began taking on water. All three boaters were wearing lifejackets when rescued.
At approximately 4:25 a.m., Thursday, Coast Guard watchstanders at Sector San Juan received a Mayday VHF Channel 16 radio communication as well as a 406Mhz transmission from the sailing vessel Quartz’s Emergency Positioning Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB). The sailors relayed to watchstanders that they were planning to abandon the sailing vessel and embark the vessel’s dinghy.
U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders directed the launch of a Coast Guard 33-foot Special Purpose Craft – Law Enforcement from Boat Forces Unit St. Thomas and an MH-60T Jayhawk Medium-Range Recovery Helicopter aircrew from Air Station Borinquen to find the sailors, and they also notified Virgin Islands Search and Rescue authorities of the ongoing distress.
The sailors were forced to abandon the sailing vessel onto a dinghy, after the catamaran hit the rocks and started taking on water.
Photo by Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR).
Shortly thereafter, a responding Virgin Islands Search and Rescue marine unit arrived on-scene and recovered all three sailors from the dinghy, who were then transported to Tortola, British Virgin Islands where they were assisted by Virgin Islands Search and Rescue and local authorities.
No medical emergencies were reported in this case.
“The efficient communication between the Coast Guard and Virgin Islands Search and Rescue allowed us to relay valuable information from the sailing vessel Quartz’s EPIRB that facilitated the expedited rescue of the three boaters,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Victor Rodríguez Laboy, Sector San Juan operations unit controller for the case. “Vessel owners should always register their EPIRB’s with NOAA, doing so could save valuable time during a search and rescue response as it did in this case.”
–USCG–
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