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The Coast Guard rescued three men from their capsized boat 14 miles off Kaneohe Bay Friday night.
A friend of the men called the Coast Guard at 7:20 p.m. and said the men needed help after their 23-foot boat capsized, the Coast Guard said in a news release Saturday.
The Coast Guard launched an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Barbers Point and diverted the Cutter Kiska to the area.
The vessel had an emergency position indicating radio beacon, which helped the helicopter crew find the boat. One man was sitting on the boat’s hull and the other two were floating in the water.
A Coast Guard rescue swimmer helped the men into the helicopter and they were flown to Barbers Point, where an ambulance was standing by.
The men were uninjured, the Coast Guard said.
“It cannot be overstated how important working safety gear is when heading out onto the ocean. The position received from this vessel’s emergency position indicating radio beacon was a key factor in getting rescuers to the exact location of these men who were in distress. The EPIRB took the search out of this search-and-rescue case,” said Coast Guard spokesman Lt. Kevin Cooper.
The Coast Guard said the boat remains adrift and they broadcast a safety alert for mariners to be alert for it.
