The US Coast Guard on Sunday rescued five boaters who were desperately clinging to an overturned vessel 11 miles off the coast of Florida.
The watery drama played out around 10:15 a.m., when the Coast Guard Jacksonville Sector got a 911 call from the local sheriff’s office about an overturned vessel with five people in the water.
The Guard dispatched a rescue boat from their Mayport, Fla., base and a chopper from the maritime agency’s station in Savannah, Ga., officials said in a press release.
Photographs released by the Coast Guard show the boaters huddled atop the capsized craft before they were picked up by a rescue vessel and taken to relieved relatives waiting on shore near Jacksonville.
“While on the water, situations can become unpredictable and dangerous in an instant, so it’s crucial to be prepared,” Cmdr. Nick Barrow of the Coast Guard Jacksonville Sector said in a statement.
“Having life jackets for everyone aboard your vessel can help save lives by providing essential buoyancy and increasing visibility in the water,” Barrow said. “We appreciate the swift emergency communications relay with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office enabling a rapid response to the scene.”
The overturned boat was left adrift in the ocean, and the owner has to arrange for its salvage.
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