Last Wednesday (13 November) in the early hours of the morning three crew from the sailing vessel “In Tune” went overboard more than 500 miles (805 km) off Virginia Beach. Exactly how has yet to be confirmed, however sadly only two of the three crew were recovered.

Published 5 years ago

Last Wednesday (13 November) in the early hours of the morning three crew from the sailing vessel “In Tune” went overboard more than 500 miles (805 km) off Virginia Beach. 

The remaining crew onboard sent out a MAYDAY call on VHF Channel 16 which was picked up my merchant ship “Stena Progress” who diverted to assist.

At 04:00 the Coast Guard station in Portsmouth received notification that “Stena Progress” was attempting rescue and sent a cutter and 2 helicopters from North Carolina and Massachusetts to search more than 1,000 nautical miles (3,430 square km) during Wednesday.

On Wednesday evening the search was called off.

“I would like to offer my sincere condolences to the family and friends who have been affected by this case,” said Capt. Timothy Eason, the Chief of Incident Management for the Coast Guard’s 5th District. “Deciding when to suspend a search is an extremely hard decision to make. Unfortunately, after this period of time in the water and extensive area searched with no sightings, it is highly unlikely we would be able to recover him.”

Further Reading:

USCG Bulletin

Charlotte Observer: Coast Guard halts search for third boater; 2 others rescued

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