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| Press Release |
Date: Oct. 26, 2006
Contact: Ricardo Castrodad |
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French, American's Rescued by Coast Guard North of the Dominican Republic MIAMI -- Coast Guard rescue crews from Air Station Clearwater, Fla., deployed to Great Inagua, Bahamas hoisted five people to safety at 5:38 a.m. today while their 47-foot French-flagged vessel was aground and breaking up 40 miles north of the Dominican Republic. Two Americans and three French mariners were traveling from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to Martinique when the vessel struck a reef around Mouchoir Banks sometime in the night. A distress call was passed by the crew of the motor vessel Seaboard Caribbean to the Coast Guard around 2 a.m. reporting four males and one female on the sailing vessel Morito needed assistance but were not in immediate distress at that time. The helicopter crew working in support of Operations Bahamas, Turks and Caicos was launched at 3:55 a.m. to assist. The Coast Guard was unable to communicate with the Morito crew due to the remote location but the crew of the Seaboard Caribbean was able to relayed information by shipboard email until the helicopter was in radio range. When the helicopter crew arrived they realized the sailing vessel was beginning to break up and hoisted all five members into the helicopter. One crew member had a laceration on his thumb. The five were taken to Provodenciales Airport in Grand Turks where they were met by local Emergency Medical Services. ###
The U.S. Coast Guard is a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the |
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