Coast Guard suspends search of missing mariner off Big Island

HONOLULU, HAWAII, UNITED STATES

12.11.2020

Story by Petty Officer 3rd Class Ryan Fisher 

U.S. Coast Guard District 14 Hawaii Pacific

HONOLULU — The Coast Guard has suspended the active search for the missing mariner who fell overboard approximately 150-miles southeast of Big Island, Friday evening.

The mariner, a Republic of Kiribati native, remains missing.

“Our crews and partners worked diligently, but unfortunately there has been no sign of the missing mariner and the Coast Guard has suspended the active search tonight at sunset pending any further developments,” said Ensign Jonathon Smith, a Sector Honolulu watchstander. “Making the decision to suspend a search is never an easy one.”

Rescue crews conducted a total of 23 searches, over the course of 45 hours, covering over 8,693 square miles.

Involved in the search were-

-An Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew
-The crew of the Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak (WPC 1126)
-Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircrew
-Two Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 268 (MV-22B) aircrews
-A Marine KC-130 aircrew
-The vessel Kamokuiki
-The crew of the Sea Goddess

At 4:50 p.m., Wednesday, Sector Honolulu watchstanders received a phone call from the master of the commercial fishing vessel Sea Goddess reporting that one of his crewmembers was missing.

Sector Honolulu watchstanders immediately issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched rescue crews including partner agency assets.

The weather on scene at the time of the search was winds of 5 mph and seas up to 6 feet.

• Date Taken: 12.11.2020
• Date Posted: 12.11.2020 23:35
• Story ID: 384850
• Location: HONOLULU, HAWAII, US