HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard has called off a search for a possible vessel in distress, prompted by a mysterious mayday call.
HONOLULU — The U.S. Coast Guard has called off a search for a possible vessel in distress, prompted by a mysterious mayday call.
The Sector Honolulu command center received a three-second distress call Saturday afternoon from a male voice, saying “335 Marlin. Mayday, mayday. Orca.”
No more distress calls were heard, and the caller did not respond to messages from the Coast Guard. The call was tracked to an area about 4 miles northwest of the Kona airport on the Big Island.
The Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerzcak vessel and a helicopter crew searched for the possible boat in distress. The Hawaii County Fire Department’s helicopter, a U.S. Navy P-3 Orion aircraft and a Royal Australian Navy oiler named the HMAS Success joined the search. The military vehicles are participating in a multinational naval exercise the U.S. is hosting.
The Coast Guard said several fishing tournaments were being held over the weekend, so authorities contacted all the tournament directors. None reported any missing boats, and the Big Island fire department did not have any missing person reports Saturday.
The search was suspended after about eight hours as no reports were received of swimmers or boats overdue, the Coast Guard said.
