Coast Guard rescues 3 from a vessel taking on water 25 miles west of Anna Maria

News Release

U.S. Coast Guard 7th District PA Detachment Tampa Bay Contact: Coast Guard PA Detachment Tampa Bay 305-965-4672 PA Detachment Tampa Bay online newsroom

Coast Guard rescues 3 from a vessel taking on water 25 miles west of Anna Maria 

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St. Petersburg, Fla. — The Coast Guard rescued three people, Friday, from a 22-foot vessel taking on water 25 miles west of Anna Maria.

Rescued were: Jorge Girledo, Smith Pabby, and Jiyao Ghou.

A Coast Guard Station Cortez rescue crew arrived on scene and safely transferred the boaters in distress from the sinking vessel to Station Cortez with no injuries.

Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg command center watchstanders received an emergency alert approximately at 1:00 p.m., from the disabled vessel operator and directed the launch of a Station Cortez 45-foot Response Boat-Medium rescue crew.

“We can't stress enough the importance of having reliable safety equipment on board your vessel, we remind mariners to have a marine radio, use channel 16 to report emergencies, wear a life jacket, check the weather, filing a float plan, ensure your safety gear is up to date,” said Petty Officer 2nd class Jennifer Andrews, Sector St. Petersburg watchsander. “The Coast Guard wants everybody to enjoy the summer but also we would like to remind our Tampa Bay boating community to stay safe and avoid unfortunate incidents by maintaining safe boating practices”.

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-USCG-