Coast Guard ends 10-day search for fishing boat near Marshalls
The Coast Guard ended a 10-day search Saturday for a missing commercial fishing boat near the Marshall Islands.
Nine people were on board the 83-foot vessel Clear Water 02 when it was reported missing on March 12.
None of the crew was found, but good Samaritan vessels found 34 fishing floats labeled “CW02” and two life rings marked “Clearwater 02,” the Coast Guard said.
“Suspending a search is never an easy decision,” said Coast Guard Lt. Justin Gear in a news release. “We offer our sincere condolences to the families and friends of the missing crew.”
Clear Water 02, a Micronesia-flagged vessel, had one Marshallese and eight Chinese nationals aboard when it failed to show up in Majuro for offloading.
The Coast Guard received a call about the overdue vessel at 5:26 p.m. March 12.
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A Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane from Barbers Point on Oahu launched that night. Its crew searched about 50,000 square miles in 44 hours.
A Navy P-3 Orion airplane joined the search on Thursday and Friday and scanned about 8,700 square miles.
The Coast Guard said 10 good Samaritan vessels assisted in the search and found the floats 224 miles east of Majuro on Tuesday and the life rings 114 miles southeast of Kwajalein on Friday.
Majuro is about 270 miles southeast of Kwajalein.
