PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard diverted a 935-foot passenger ship Saturday to rescue two people from a disabled sailboat in the Atlantic Ocean approximately 600 miles east of Bermuda.
The owner of the44-foot sailboat Embla contacted Coast Guard 5th District watchstanders at approximately 4:30 p.m. requesting assistance and reporting his vessel disabled and adrift with two people aboard.
District watchstanders used the sailboat’s gps coordinates to pull up a surface picture of Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER) participating vessels in the area.
“The AMVER surface picture gave us the ability to locate a vessel only 35 miles away in the middle of the ocean,” said Lt. Chris Svencer, a search and rescue coordinator at the 5th District commander center. “AMVER vessels add an essential capability we need to execute deep ocean search and rescue cases.”
District watchstanders contacted the crew aboard the passenger ship Nieuw Amsterdam to ask if they could render assistance. The Nieuw Amsterdam crew accepted the task, diverted course and arrived on scene with the Embla at approximately 7 p.m.
The two people aboard the Embla were transferred to the Nieuw Amsterdam with no reported injuries.
