Nearly a dozen people aboard a sailboat in waters off Makaha had to be towed to shore on Saturday night after the ship’s captain reported losing engine power.

The Honolulu Fire Department responded to a 911 call from a boater in distress that came in at 8:13 p.m. Saturday and sent four units staffed with 12 personnel to the shoreline near Lahilahi Point.

Upon their arrival at 8:25 p.m., firefighters encountered difficulty finding the sailboat, which did not have a working marine radio or navigational lights due to power loss. It also did not have an emergency position indicating radio beacon aboard, which forced HFD to rely on geolocation coordinates from the 911 caller’s cell phone.

While the department’s Rescue 2 boat was being prepared to launch and search by water, its Air 1 helicopter performed an aerial search and confirmed the distressed vessel’s location at 9 p.m. after spotting multiple cell phone flashlights in the water about a mile and a half offshore.

Using Air 1’s spotlight as a visual marker, Rescue 2 proceeded to the disabled sailboat’s location and made contact with the vessel and its captain at 9:18 p.m. Rescue specialists checked to ensure none of the 10 people aboard were injured, then secured a bridle and tow lines in order to get the sailboat back to shore.

According to HFD, the sailboat was towed to Waianae Boat Harbor, where it arrived safely at 10:30 p.m.