Coast Guard calls off search for sailor in waters north of Hawaii
U.S. COAST GUARD / AIR STATION BARBERS POINT
The Coast Guard is searching for a missing 50-year-old man reported overdue while sailing aboard this 97-foot super trimaran from San Francisco to Shanghai.
The Coast Guard in Honolulu called off the search Wednesday night for a Chinese mariner aboard his trimaran north of Hawaii.
A Navy boarding team had found no sign of skipper Guo Chuan.
Guo was attempting to set a solo sailing record from San Francisco to Shanghai.
The Maritime Rescue Coordination Center China contacted the Coast Guard in Honolulu on Tuesday after not hearing from him in 24 hours.
The Coast Guard located his 97-foot trimaran on Tuesday about 600 miles northwest of Oahu but rescuers searching from the air saw no sign of him onboard.
The Navy diverted the San Diego-based USS Makin Island, carrying 2,300 sailors and Marines, to investigate further. A boarding team from the ship said no one was in the cabin.
The boarding team from the Makin Island also lowered the vessels sails, and the ship was to remain on site until Chinese vessels arrived, said Navy Lt. Julie Holland, spokeswoman for the U.S. 3rd Fleet, based in San Diego.
Earlier, an MH-60 helicopter from the Makin Island lowered a rescue diver into the water, but the diver was unable to board the vessel because of rough conditions.
The Makin Island was enroute to the Middle East on a six-month deployment when it was asked to divert a couple hundred miles to assist with Guo’s rescue because of the trimaran’s distance from shore.
The 50-year-old Guo was the first Chinese person to sail around the world in 2013, according to his website, guochaunracing.com.
His racing boat, the Qingdao China, has an automatic identification system that showed its location, Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle said.
Guo left San Francisco on Oct. 18 to challenge the solo nonstop trans-Pacific world record. The current speed record for that journey is 21 days and he was trying to sail from San Francisco to Shanghai within 20 days, the website says.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.
8 responses to “Coast Guard calls off search for sailor in waters north of Hawaii”
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That seems a little outside of the Coast Guard’s mission. A little ar from the U.S.
I don’t think you have a clue what the USCG’s mission is. Perhaps you could tell us . Do you even know the different types of vessel documentations are ? Or even one of them ? Or did you just get hung up ont the word Coast ?
I thought the same as justmyview.
A quick Google and I found this. 12 miles for most things, 200 miles for fisheries, and for US registered vessels, basically anywhere in international waters on the high seas. For non US or stateless (not registered anywhere) vessels, there is also a process called Statement of No Objection where the cognizant authority gives permission for the Coast Guard to have jurisdiction in that particular case.
If asking what’s the “safe distance” to engage in smuggling or violate international agreements…..there isn’t one.
My wife works in the Coast Guard command center in Honolulu. I’m sure she spent her whole day working this case. This is exactly what the Coast Guard does, its been the mission for over 200 year!
Would really suck if he croaked. As a male in his 50’s the chance of getting the big one doing extraneous activities increases immensely. Let’s hope he’s alive and just taking a nap.
Hopefully he didn’t fall overboard. If so he’s probably a goner.
Rogue wave?
Regarding:
“The 50-year-old Guo was the first Chinese person to sail around the world in 2013, according to his website, guochaunracing.com.”
Ohhhh… I’m so glad the article mentioned “person” as “first Chinese person”.
For awhile I wondered if it was a Chinese animal or plant that tried to sail from San Francisco to Shanghai.
What’s wrong with:
“The 50-year-old Guo was the first Chinese to sail around the world in 2013, according to his website, guochaunracing.com.”