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HONOLULU – The Coast Guard continues the search for an overdue 82-foot commercial fishing vessel near the Republic of Marshall Islands, Saturday.
Fishing vessel Clear Water 02 reportedly went missing with nine people aboard while en route Majuro for offload, Thursday.
A Coast Guard aircraft has searched approximately 14,000 square miles totaling eight search hours. Eight good Samaritan vessels are assisting with a total of 13,809 square miles searched since Thursday.
At 5:26 p.m. Thursday, watchstanders at the Joint Rescue Coordination Center in Honolulu received notification from the Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Majuro after the vessel failed to return to port as scheduled.
Clear Water 02 is a Federated States of Micronesia flagged vessel with one Marshallese and eight Chinese nationals aboard.
An HC-130 Hercules airplane crew launched from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point at 8:39 p.m. Thursday.
The HC-130 crew arrived on scene at 4:30 a.m. Friday, conducted track line searches totaling 391 miles and deployed two self-locating datum marker buoys.
Watchstanders at the JRCC used data gathered from the SLDMBs and the search and rescue optimal planning system to calculate the search area. SAROPS is a software system that uses simulated particles generated by users in a graphical interface. These particles are then influenced by environmental data to provide information on search object drift. Using information on a point of origin and local currents, it calculates the most likely area to find a person or object in the water.
Eight good Samaritan vessels are also assisting in the search.
On-scene conditions are nine foot seas and 40 mph winds.
The 14th Coast Guard District encompasses an area of 12.2 million square miles of the Central and South Pacific. Coast Guard aircraft based in Hawaii frequently travel thousands of miles in response to search and rescue and other calls for assistance. The Hercules is scheduled to be replaced by the HC-130J, which will bring increased capabilities to Coast Guard response across the Pacific.
For more information, contact the 14th Coast Guard District public affairs office at (808) 535-3230.