As Hurricane Girma made landfall off the coast of Hawaii last week, the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy rescued a mother, her 7-year-old child and their pet turtle and cat from a yacht about 1,000 miles off the coast of Hawaii after the captain was killed.
Watchdogs at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received an alert from an emergency radio beacon around noon on Aug. 25, reporting a family member who had been stranded, police said. News Release From the USCG.
The center broadcast an alert to all ships in the area and dispatched an HC-130 Hercules aircraft to search for the family.
The 47-foot French sailing vessel, named the Albroc, was first spotted by a Hercules aircraft, which picked up a distress call from a 47-year-old woman once within range.
She said she and her daughter were the only people on board the vessel, along with the body of the dead male captain. It was unclear when or how the captain died. Authorities did not immediately say what the woman's relationship to the child was.
When Albrook was first discovered, the seas were too rough to reach it.
Hurricane Girma is strengthening as it makes landfall on the mainland, packing waves up to six feet high and winds of up to 20 mph.
Crews on the scene requested further assistance from the Navy, including a 754-foot liquefied petroleum gas tanker, which arrived at 5:20 pm, just eight hours after the Hercules found the stranded Al Block.
However, the situation only calmed down at 5am and with Hurricane Girma approaching, there was no time to launch rescue operations.
The mother, daughter and their pets were rescued and returned safely to Honolulu.
Just 12 hours after the survivors were rescued, waves at the spot where their boat was stranded reached 25 feet high, about half the length of the damaged Albrook.
“The crew of my boat, especially the captain, demonstrated skillful boat handling and good judgment in approaching the wreck and removing the survivors,” U.S. Navy Commander Bobby Weiland, commander of one of the rescue vessels, said in a news release.
“We also appreciate the excellent coordination and information provided by the USCG throughout the entire operation. It's really great to see the Navy and Coast Guard teams working together so smoothly.”
As conditions worsened, crew members were unable to salvage the body of the dead man, and the Albrook was also unable to be salvaged and remains adrift at sea.
