Three sailors are safe after being rescued in the North Pacific, about a thousand miles southwest of Adak in the western Aleutians. The three-day effort was an international rescue that included Coast Guard crews from the U.S., Canadian and Japanese Coast Guards. The three countries coordinated to reach the crew of the Mizuya, a 40-foot sailing vessel that lost rudder control on June 18 and was unable to steer.
Rough waters of 35 mph winds and 15-foot waves kept nearby good Samaritan vessels from reaching them. The Canadian Coast Guard Ship Sir Wilfrid Laurier was already deployed in the region and sailed more than 575 miles to reach the disabled sailboat on June 19.
All three sailors – two men and a woman from Canada – were found in good health. The Laurier crew got them onto the Japan Coast Guard vessel Kurikoma on June 21, which took them to Japan.
The sailors had been sailing across the Pacific from Gamagori, Japan, with plans to end in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
The Mizuya was left adrift in international waters. The U.S. Coast Guard said it’s not currently a hazard to navigation. The Laurier crew marked the word “SAFE” in red paint across the sailboat’s hull and cabin top, and left the vessel’s solar-powered tracking system on.
