Imagery Available: Pacific partners conduct joint rescue of six fishermen on heels of regional SAR conference

united states coast guard 

News Release  

May 25, 2017
U.S. Coast Guard 14th District Hawaii and the Pacific
Contact: 14th District Public Affairs
Office: (808) 535-3230
After Hours: (808) 341-9849

Pacific partners conduct joint rescue of six fishermen on heels of regional SAR conference

Petty Officer 2nd Class Mandi Stevens and Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Parmenter, aviation maintenance technicians from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, prepare a long range deployable drop kit to a disabled vessel approximately 80 miles off Tonga May 25, 2017. Petty Officer 2nd Class Mandi Stevens an aviation maintenance technician from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, writes a note to be placed inside long range deployable drop kit to a disabled vessel approximately 80 miles off Tonga May 25, 2017. Petty Officer 2nd Class Mandi Stevens and Petty Officer 2nd Class Chris Parmenter, aviation maintenance technicians from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, sit on the ramp of an HC-130 Hercules airplane to deploy a long range deployable drop kit to a disabled vessel approximately 80 miles off Tonga May 25, 2017.

Editors Note: U.S. Coast Guard photos by Petty Officer 3rd Class Amanda Levasseur.
Click on images to download high resolution version from DVIDS.

HONOLULU — Six Tongan fishermen are safe today following a joint rescue effort between the U.S. Coast Guard, Maritime New Zealand and the Tongan navy.

The men arrived safely to Tongatapu aboard a Tongan naval patrol boat after they were initially located by a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew from Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii.

"I'm proud of my crew and how well we represented the United States this past week," said Lt. Cmdr. Michael Koehler, Hercules pilot, Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point. "Two days ago we were in New Zealand at the 2017 Pacific Search and Rescue Conference talking to delegates from Tonga about search and rescue capabilities and today we spotted a disabled vessel 80 miles off of Tonga's shore on night vision goggles without use of the radar. The conference was designed to strengthen relationships and enhance search and rescue interoperability in the Pacific to address rescue situations like this."

U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders at Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu received a request Wednesday afternoon from personnel at Joint Rescue Coordination Center New Zealand to help locate a 40-foot fishing vessel with six fishermen reported overdue on a voyage from Tonumeia Island to Tongatapu with estimated time of arrival of 7 p.m. Tuesday. Members of the community reportedly searched the area around the islands and did not find them, prompting the request for further support.

The Hercules crew, due to return to Hawaii from Auckland following participation in the regional search and rescue conference, was diverted from their original mission to respond.

Upon arrival to the search area Wednesday evening, about 80 miles off Tonga, the Hercules crew sighted the fishermen waving a white flag. They released a long range deployable drop kit to the crew of the disabled vessel which included food and water, a VHF radio, and a transponder. Watchstanders at JRCC Honolulu notified RCC New Zealand personnel of the vessel's position. Due to fuel constraints the Hercules crew was forced to depart the scene to American Samoa for fuel and crew rest.

RCC New Zealand personnel provided the position to the Tongan naval patrol boat crew who used the transponder to successfully re-located the fishing vessel and rescue all six men. All six fishermen are reportedly ion good condition.

In addition, the deployable long range drop kit, while not standard across the Coast Guard, is a combination of equipment packaged together as a kit and carried by Air Station Barbers Point Hercules crews for exactly this kind of case. Best practices such as this are the kind of thing shared at the conference to improve response in a region known for vast distances, challenging conditions in remote areas and limited response resources.

-USCG-