AQUALEADER

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Course/Position

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Tanker assisted in rescue operation

The "Aqualeader" assisted in an SAR operation during which the ZS Coast Guard rescued five people from a sinking 65-foot sailing vessel approximately 120 miles off the Monterey coast on Jan 31. At approximately 8 a.m. the 11th Coast Guard District Command Center received a distress signal from a personal locator beacon. A C17 transport aircraft under Oakland Center Control, flying at approximately 5,000 feet, visually identified the sailing vessel in the vicinity of the alert location and confirmed that the sailing vessel "Flyin’ Hawaiian" was taking on water. The Coast Guard responded with one Coast Guard Air Station Sacramento HC-130H Hercules aircrew. The crew was able to contact and divert the "Aqualeader" that was 24 miles from the sailing vessel's location. Though unable to remove anyone off the vessel, the "Aqualeader" assisted by blocking seas and wind for the "Flyin’ Hawaiian". The Coast Guard launched one Coast Guard Air Station San Francisco MH-65 helicopter rescue crew and one MH-65 helicopter rescue crew from Coast Guard Air Station Los Angeles. Both helicopter crews successfully rescued the five people from the sinking sailing vessel.