Coast Guard, good Samaritan rescues two people adrift in a raft, south of Sandy Hook, N.J.

News Release

July 21, 2017 U.S. Coast Guard 1st District PA Detachment New York Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment New York Office: (212) 514-4291 After Hours: (917) 703-0983

Coast Guard, good Samaritan rescues two people adrift in a raft, south of Sandy Hook, N.J.

Editors' Note: Click on images to download high resolution version.

NEW YORK – Coast Guard crews and a good Samaritan rescued two people 40 miles south of Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Friday after their boat sank.

 

At 9:39 a.m. watchstanders at the first Coast Guard District command center received a distress alert from an EPIRB onboard a 35-foot center console boat, 40 miles off of the coast of Sandy Hook.

 

A Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod HC-144 aircraft was diverted to the area of the signal and located two people in a life raft near an overturned boat and its debris.

 

An MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Air Station Atlantic City launched and arrived on scene but was unable to deploy a rescue swimmer in the water due to visible sharks in the area.

 

A good Samaritan aboard a fishing vessel nearby rescued the two people from the raft.

 

A Coast Guard Station Sandy Hook boatcrew arrived on scene and safely transported the two people over to the 47-foot Motor Lifeboat and were brought back to Sandy Hook.

 

No injuries were reported and the cause of the vessel sinking is unknown.

 

-USCG-