At approximately 2:30 am (EST) Thursday, the United States Coast Guard Atlantic Area Rescue Coordination Center received an emergency signal from the sinking fishing vessel and quickly diverted two Amver vessels, the tankers Navig8 Stealth II and SKS Mosel, to assist.
Amver, sponsored by the United States Coast Guard, is a unique, computer-based, and voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea.
The Marshall Island flagged tanker Navig8 Stealth II, under the command of Captain S. S. Ghuman, was approximately 35 miles from the distress location when it battled strong winds and 15 foot seas to divert. Once the Navig8 Stealth II was within 5 miles of the sinking fishing vessel the crew sighted a flare shot from a life raft. Within seven hours of receiving the distress call the Navig8 Stealth II, managed by Navig8 Ship Management of Singapore, had rescued several survivors.
“We managed to rescue six survivors from the life raft,” Captain Ghuman stated in an email to rescue authorities, “all six are being treated for shock and being given food.” Shortly thereafter, the Norwegian flagged tanker SKS Mosel rescued another survivor clinging to a piece of debris.
The United States Coast Guard, in cooperation with search and rescue authorities from Britain, Spain, and Canada, is continuing to coordinate the search for the missing fishermen. The Amver ship Red Lily, a Panamanian flagged bulk carrier, has also been diverted to the scene.
The Navig8 Stealth II is a new Amver participant having enrolled in April. The SKS Mosel has been an Amver participant for five years while the Red Lily enrolled four years ago.
The survivors aboard the Navig8 Stealth II are bound for a U.S. port in the Gulf of Mexico while the SKS Mosel is set to dock in Corpus Christi, Texas with one survivor.
With Amver, rescue coordinators can identify participating ships in the area of distress and divert the best-suited ship or ships to respond. Prior to sailing, participating ships send a sail plan to the Amver computer center. Vessels then report every 48 hours until arriving at their port of call. This data is able to project the position of each ship at any point during its voyage. In an emergency, any rescue coordination center can request this data to determine the relative position of Amver ships near the distress location. On any given day there are over 3,500 ships available to carry out search and rescue services. Visit http://www.amver.com to learn more about this unique worldwide search and rescue system.
Photos of the rescue:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amver/3009823751/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amver/3010649842/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amver/3010649816/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amver/3009696283/
Photo credit: Crew of the M/V Navig8 Stealth II
