WILMINGTON, N.C. — Four sailors from Canada were pulled from the Atlantic Ocean, nearly 140 miles southeast of Wilmington, N.C., after their 60-foot catamaran flipped over Saturday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The USCG 5th District Command Center in Portsmouth responded to an emergency call from the Moon Dragon, a yacht that charters between the mid-Atlantic and the Virgin Islands, shortly after noon Saturday. Crews arrived by air and lifted the four mariners into the helicopter before returning to Air Station Elizabeth City where they were turned over to the care of Pasquotank-Camden Emergency Medical Services. Officials did not say what condition the four sailors are in.
The four rescued told officials that they were forced off the Moon Dragon when their port and starboard side hatches broke, resulting in "catastrophic flooding."
“The ocean is unpredictable and unforgiving, and this case represents perfectly the value of being prepared at sea,” said Petty Officer First Class Austin Lang, operations unit controller.
The USCG noted that the catamaran's radio, functional life raft and the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) led to the successful rescue.
With the catamaran still partially submerged, the USCG issued a hazard-to-navigation safety broadcast to alert other seafarers in the area.
The full vdeo from the USCG showing the rescue can be viewed in the video player below.
