Coast Guard rescues 10 from disabled cargo ship in the middle of the Atlantic

News Release

Oct. 10, 2018 U.S. Coast Guard 5th District Mid-Atlantic Contact: 5th District Public Affairs Office: (757) 398-6272 After Hours: (757) 434-7712 5th District online newsroom

UPDATE: Coast Guard rescues 10 from disabled cargo ship in the middle of the Atlantic

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PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Coast Guard Cutter Confidence rescued 10 crewmembers, who were stranded on a disabled cargo ship for almost 20 days when they were picked up Monday, approximately 1,380 miles southeast of Bermuda.

"We were conducting a law enforcement patrol near Puerto Rico when we were assigned to assist the crew of the motor vessel Alta,” said Cmdr. Travis Emge, the commanding officer of the Confidence. “We traveled over 1,300 nautical miles to get to the disabled ship ahead of Hurricane Leslie's forecasted track and brought the 10 crewmembers aboard. We are all proud of our part in this coordinated Coast Guard response to rescue this crew.”

The Coast Guard was notified Sept. 30 that the 250-foot Tanzanian-flagged cargo ship, Alta, became disabled Sept. 19, while transiting from Greece to Haiti, and were unable to make repairs. The crew reported that they had enough food for two days and water for 15 days, and that there were no injuries or immediate medical concerns.

An aircrew on an HC-130 Hercules airplane from Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City dropped about a week's worth of food to the crew Oct. 2, helping sustain the men until help could arrive.

The Confidence is taking the 10 men to Puerto Rico and is scheduled to arrive there Friday.

The Coast Guard's Fifth District command center has been working to coordinate with the ship owner for a commercial tug to tow the vessel to shore.

-USCG-

PREVIOUS RELEASE: Coast Guard airdrops supplies to disabled cargo ship 1380 miles off Bermuda