PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard assisted in the rescue of two people Sunday after their 18-foot catamaran started sinking four miles north of Cedar Island in the Pamlico Sound, North Carolina.
Watchstanders at the Fifth Coast Guard District received distress signals from a pair of personal locator beacons and an emergency SPOT device. The watchstanders utilized the information from the distress beacons to precisely pinpoint where the boaters where located and issued an urgent marine information broadcast.
A good Samaritan boater responded to the UMIB, rescued the two boaters and took them to Beaufort City Dock in Beaufort, North Carolina.
“Their use of properly-registered emergency devices greatly contributed to the speed of their rescue,” said Capt. Chris Scraba, chief of response for the Coast Guard 5th District. “The information received from the beacons allowed the Coast Guard to issue an urgent marine information broadcast with their exact location, which helped a good Samaritan locate them. Without these devices this case could easily have turned tragic and could have resulted in a long, multi-day search.”
Crews from Coast Guard Station Hobucken and Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City were also launched to assist.