USCG assists sailing vessel taking on water off Charleston coast

The Coast Guard assisted three people aboard a sailing vessel taking on water 37 miles southeast of Charleston, Friday.

A Coast Guard Air Facility Charleston MH-65 Dolphin helicopter aircrew arrived on scene and lowered a dewatering pump to the 42-foot sailing vessel, Tybee III, crew to keep their sailing vessel afloat.

A Coast Guard Cutter James boat crew arrived on scene and escorted the sailing vessel until a Station Charleston 45-foot Response Boat-Medium boat crew relieved the escort and transferred two crewmembers to assist with dewatering the Tybee III.

Coast Guard Seventh District command center watchstanders received an emergency position indicating radio beacon distress signal at 9:16 a.m., Friday, from the Tybee III crew. The distress information was passed to Coast Guard Sector Charleston command center watchstanders who issued an Urgent Marine Information Broadcast and directed the launch of an MH-65 Dolphin aircrew and diverted the Coast Guard Cutter James crew to assist.

Station Charleston RB-M crewmembers are escorting the sailing vessel to the Charleston city boat yard where the boat will be recovered from the water.

There were no medical concerns.

The EPIRB is a device used to automatically alert authorities via satellite of the position and name of a vessel in distress. This device is useful where radio frequencies and cell phone ranges may not reach the necessary help. Because the sailing vessel Tybee III had an EPIRB on board, the Coast Guard was able to identify the vessel, locate its position, and immediately launch a crew to assist.