U.S. Coast Guard and Navy crews rescued a French woman, her daughter, and their pets from a 47-foot sailboat in the path of the former Hurricane Gilma in waters east of Hawaii on Wednesday.

At 12:33 p.m. Saturday, a distress signal came from the emergency position indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) of the Albroc, a French-flagged vessel about 925 miles east of Honolulu, Coast Guard officials said in a news release.

Coast Guard watchstanders in Honolulu launched an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew from Barbers Point and the crew sighted the sailboat, and heard the woman’s mayday call, but were unable to establish direct communication.

A 47-year-old woman reported that there was a deceased man on board, and that she and her 7-year-old daughter were beset by weather and in need of rescue. She lighted two distress flares as the sailboat drifted and took waves over the beam, officials said.

The Coast Guard requested help from the Navy, which diverted the USS William P. Lawrence from Pearl Harbor to the sailboat. They also requested help from the Seri Emperor, a Singapore-flagged, 754-foot liquid petroleum gas tanker about 290 miles south of the sailboat.

The Seri Emperor arrived first, at 5:20 p.m. Sunday, but the crew was unable to safely remove the woman and girl from the sailboat due to deteriorating weather conditions ahead of Hurricane Gilma. The crew remained on scene until the Navy’s William P. Lawrence arrived at 5 a.m. Monday.

Within six hours, a small-boat crew from the Navy ship was able to rescue the woman, girl, a cat and tortoise from the sailboat. Due to adverse conditions, the crew could not safely recover the deceased man, Coast Guard officials.

On Saturday and early Sunday, Gilma was a major Category 3 hurricane in the East Pacific more than 1,400 miles east of Hilo, but it has weakened to a remnant low today as it approaches Hawaii.

The William P. Lawrence returned to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam at 5 p.m. Wednesday, where the survivors were met by representatives from the Coast Guard and the Honorary Consul of France in Hawaii.

“Through tireless planning, coordination and teamwork, our watchstanders pieced together the key elements needed for such a dynamic search and rescue case,” said Kevin Cooper, JRCC Honolulu search and rescue mission coordinator in a news release. “The use of an EPIRB was also crucial and allowed our aircrews and partners to pinpoint the sailboat’s location. We are grateful the crews of the Seri Emperor and William P. Lawrence were able to reach the mother and daughter, who were caught right in the path of Hurricane Gilma.”

USCG officials said the sailboat remains adrift about 1,000 miles east of Honolulu.