Good Samaritan Vessel Rescues Two Sailors off Virginia

The U.S. Coast Guard reported Wednesday that it is searching for a missing sailor who went over the side of a sailing yacht with two other people about 460 nautical miles east of Virginia Beach.

The Coast Guard’s 5th District command center received a report at 0400 hours that the MR tanker Stena Progress had diverted from her course to respond to a mayday broadcast on VHF from the sailing vessel In Tune.

The crew of the Coast Guard cutter Vigorous, an HC-130 aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City and an HC-144 aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod were launched to respond. 

By the time that the HC-130 Hercules aircrew arrived on scene, two of the three sailors had been recovered by the Stena Progress. The aircrew deployed a life raft into the water and began their search for the remaining missing person. The HC-144 aircrew relieved the HC-130 Hercules aircrew from the search on Wednesday afternoon.

The 2009-built Stena Progress is a 65,000 dwt ice-classed MR tanker operated by Stena Bulk. She is presently on a voyage from Montreal to Houston.