Coast Guard finds, rescues 3 divers near Molokai
COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD
The Coast Guard rescued three missing divers near Penguin Bank, Molokai today. The divers were located at 4 p.m. six miles from their original location by a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat-medium crew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu.
COURTESY U.S. COAST GUARD
The Coast Guard rescues three missing divers near Penguin Bank, Molokai, Jan. 18, 2016. The divers were located at 4 p.m. six miles from their original location by a Coast Guard 45-foot response boat-medium crew from Coast Guard Station Honolulu.
Three divers were found safe this evening, five hours after they were reported missing and about six miles from where they were last seen.
The divers — a 40-year-old man, 30-year-old man and 17-year-old boy — were diving with another man near Penguin Bank off the west coast of Molokai when their 20-foot cabin vessel began to drift away at about 10 a.m.
The operator of the boat went to recover it, and when he went back to where he left his friends, he couldn’t find them. After searching the area for about 90 minutes, the man radioed for help at about 11:20 a.m., a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.
The spokeswoman confirmed that the area was marked with a dive float.
It was unclear how the boat began to drift.
A Coast Guard 45-foot response boat crew from Honolulu Harbor, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew and an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Barbers Point, and the Coast Guard Cutter Ahi searched the area and mariners in the area are also asked to look out for them and report any sightings to the Honolulu command center.
The divers were found by the response boat about 4 p.m.
No injuries were reported.
2 responses to “Coast Guard finds, rescues 3 divers near Molokai”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
The advertiser needs to keep up with the news a little faster. They have been found and rescued.
Lucky buggers. As you can see from the 2nd photo, without a signaling device, they were practically invisible. Good thing there was no chop. With just a tiny bit of chop, they’d been even harder to see. If they had kept the float and flag with them, had a mirror, PLB, or Rescue Streamer, they would have improved their chances of rescue a lot. And, saved taxpayer bucks too.