Hyundai Merchant Marine’s container vessel rescues survivors near the Pacific Ocean
On October 27 at 11:45 p.m. (GMT+09:00), Hyundai Merchant Marine’s container vessel Hyundai Grace safely rescued three survivors – all American men - from a sinking yacht, the Hales Revenge, near the Pacific Ocean, the company said in its press release.
The yacht was registered as being of American nationality and was headed for Seattle from Hawaii. The SOS was sent from the US Coast Guard (USCG) Seattle which called for immediate assistance from any nearby vessel. At the time, the 4,700 TEU Hyundai Grace was passing 1,480 km away from the Seattle coast.
After receiving the SOS request, the Hyundai Grace immediately travelled to aid the survivors who were 259 km away. The crew members of the Hyundai Grace rescued three survivors and rendered first aid assistance. The three survivors and Hyundai Grace will arrive at the Port of Balboa on November 5. An HMM official remarked, “Due to the rescue, we detoured about 540 km resulting in a one day delay in our schedule. However, we were glad to have been able to save lives.
Although the rescue occurred under foul weather conditions – three hours of search efforts with four meter high waves and 25 knot wind speeds - we credit the success of the operation to our strict regular emergency training, and commitment to good seamanship.”