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The Coast Guard Friday suspended the search for a student reported overboard from a Japanese training vessel about 70 miles southwest of Kauai.
Officials at the Coast Guard Command Center in Hono-lulu were notified just before 10 a.m. Tuesday that a 17-year-old male Japanese national was reported overboard from the 208-foot Hokuho Maru during a voyage from Hono-lulu to Japan. He was last seen at approximately 2:50 a.m. and was reported missing after he did not show up for muster.
He was wearing a light green jumpsuit. It is not known if he was wearing a life jacket.
The Coast Guard and Navy conducted an extensive search of the area, conducting 36 sorties, totaling 140 mission hours and covering approximately 14,192 square miles, according to an email statement.
Involved in the search were an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Barbers Point; the Coast Guard cutter Kittiwake, homeported in Honolulu; the Coast Guard cutter Kiska, homeported in Hilo; the USS Lake Champlain, homeported in San Diego; a Navy P-3 Orion crew from Kaneohe Marine Corps Air Station; the Hokuho Maru and eight other Japanese training vessels.
“Our thoughts and prayers go out to the missing student’s family, friends and loved ones,” said Coast Guard Capt. Shannon Gilreath, commanding officer of the Hono-lulu sector. “Suspending an active search is a difficult decision to make. We have exhausted all available resources in our efforts, but pending further developments, we have decided to suspend the search.”
