Norwegian Flagged Amver Ship Rescues 2
Photo credit: crew of the M/V Star Ismene
Two sailors were rescued by an Amver ship after their 34 foot sailboat was apparently struck by another cargo vessel 140 nautical miles off the coast of North Carolina on October 16, 2009.
The sailors, one Canadian and the other Swiss, were sailing from New Jersey to Saint Martin when they encountered bad weather. “The winds were blowing over 30 knots and visibility was down to three knots,” a survivor stated, “I had gone below to retrieve some foul weather gear and when I came back up we were hit.” The sailboat was demasted and began taking on water after it was struck. The sailors immediately began calling for help on the radio and launched a flare.
The crew of the Norwegian flagged container ship, Star Ismene, saw the flare and notified United States Coast Guard search and rescue authorities. The master of the container ship, which enrolled in Amver in 2000, quickly ordered his crew to begin rescue operations. One survivor suffered a minor shoulder injury during the rescue.
The survivors were taken to the Star Imene’s next port of call in New Jersey where United States Coast Guard search and rescue personnel arranged to have embassy officials meet them.
Amver, sponsored by the United States Coast Guard, is a unique, computer-based, and voluntary global ship reporting system used worldwide by search and rescue authorities to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea. With Amver, rescue coordinators can identify participating ships in the area of distress and divert the best-suited ship or ships to respond.
