15 mariners found marooned on island

APRA HARBOR, Guam—The 28-foot skiff with 15 passengers, missing since Wednesday, has been located on the beach of an uninhabited island in the Federated States of Micronesia Thursday.

Watchstanders at Coast Guard Sector Guam received a report yesterday afternoon that a vessel matching the description of the missing white 28-foot skiff with 15 passengers had been found. A vessel leaving Ruo Island, the intended destination of the missing skiff and also in FSM, saw the vessel marooned and overturned. According to the report several people were also on shore.

The mariners were found alive and reportedly in good condition with food. The group consisted of six children and nine adults: 10 males and five females, ages ranging between 4 and 59 years old.

Search assets combed an area approximately 16,200 nautical miles over a time period of 76.5 hours.

Coast Guard cutter Assateague traveled 550 miles from Guam to reach the stranded survivors, and is now making plans to assist them back to Ruo or Weno in FSM.

Sector Guam personnel used the Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue system to identify commercial vessels in the area that could assist with the search. M/V Höegh Asia, a Norwegian cargo ship and M/V Southern Explorer, a Panamanian ship, both participating members of the AMVER program, responded to the request for assistance.

Additionally, a good Samaritan vessel on its way to Guam, the M/V Islander, and local fishermen across the region assisted in the search.

“U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam did not conduct this successful search alone. A search of this magnitude would not have been possible without the support of U.S. Coast Guard District 14, Coast Guard Airstation Barbers Point, the U.S. Navy, and Capt. Thomas Narruhn from the Chuuk Department of Transportation. However, I am most grateful to the patron saint of communications for remote Pacific Islanders, Mr. Bruce Best from PEACESAT. He is the real hero in this case,” said Capt. Thomas Sparks, Commander Sector Guam.

PEACESAT, or Pan Pacific Education and Communication Experiment by Satellite, is a long range communications network based in Guam that provides emergency information to islands without telephones or other means of communication.

“Without Bruce Best and his proficient use of the PEACESAT program…the boat that spotted the skiff would probably not have known to be on the lookout for it,” said Sparks. “Moreover, timely communication with these islands to confirm the status of the passengers on board this missing skiff would not have been possible.”

Boaters are strongly encouraged to file a float plan, have basic lifesaving gear on board such as Personal Floatation Devices, and have a means of communications sufficient for the voyage that is being undertaken. In particular, mariners should always have on board emergency signaling devices such as day and night flares. A signaling device can even be something as simple as a mirror and can ultimately make the difference in whether you are rescued. [I](USCG)[/I]