IMAGERY AVAILABLE: Coast Guard, AMVER vessel assist disabled sailing vessel more than 420 miles east of Cape Canaveral

U.S. Coast Guard sent this bulletin at 11/27/2019 11:48 AM EST

united states coast guard 

News Release  

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District Southeast
Contact: 7th District Public Affairs
Office: 305-415-6683
After Hours: 786-367-7649
7th District online newsroom

Coast Guard, AMVER vessel assist disabled sailing vessel more than 420 miles east of Cape Canaveral

Fireman Emmanuel Roman, a Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce 45-foot Response Boat—Medium boat crew member, tosses a heaving line to the disabled 68-foot sailing vessel, Distant Drummer, Nov. 27, 2019 to tow the vessel to a safe harbor in Fort Pierce.  Fireman Emmanuel Roman, a Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce 45-foot Response Boat—Medium boat crew member, feeds a towing line the disabled 68-foot sailing vessel, Distant Drummer, Nov. 27, 2019 to tow the vessel to a safe harbor in Fort Pierce. 

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MIAMI — The Coast Guard and a good Samaritan vessel assisted a disabled 68-foot sailing vessel more than 420 miles east of Cape Canaveral.

Coast Guard 7th District Command Center watchstanders received a report at approximately 2:30 p.m., Sunday, that the 68-foot sailing vessel, Distant Drummer, with six people aboard was disabled. The watchstanders issued an enhanced group calling (EGC) message and contacted the automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue (AMVER) motor vessel, Sophie Schulte, the Coast Guard Cutter Bernard C. Webber (WPC-1101) and guided-missile destroyer USS Winston S. Churchill (DDG-81) to assist. 

The vessel Sophie Schulte crew arrived on scene with the Distant Drummer and attempted to assist in repairing the sailing vessel’s engine. The Sophie Schulte crew remained on scene until the cutter Bernard C. Webber crew arrived at 12:30 p.m., Monday, and took the vessel in tow.

The cutter crew towed the sailing vessel to Fort Pierce where a Coast Guard Station Fort Pierce 45-foot Response Boat—Medium boat crew continued the tow to a safe harbor in Fort Pierce.

The cutter Bernard C. Webber is a 154-foot fast response cutter homeported in Miami. The USS Winston S. Churchill is a 510-foot Arleigh Burke-class destroyer homeported in Norfolk, Virginia.

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-USCG-