International search leads to rescue of 20 mariners

John Konrad -

When unforgiving seas hit a vessel and caused it to sink off the Marshall Islands, the 20 mariners aboard were forced to abandon ship. Two thousand miles away, as the crew sheltered in their life rafts, Coast Guard watchstanders and their international partners at Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu launched into action thanks to one piece of equipment – an EPIRB.

It was early morning on December 31, 2010 when watchstanders at JRCC Honolulu first received a distress signal from a 406 MHz Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

There was no way of knowing whom the beacon belonged to or what kind of vessel was in distress because the beacon was not properly registered. Adding to the complexity of the case, the signal was coming in as a “50/50 solution” in which the signal could be coming from one of two locations: Hong Kong or the Marshall Islands.

Chris Kimbrough, the search and rescue coordinator on watch during the rescue, knows all too well the unique challenges that exist with JRCC Honolulu’s vast area of responsibility.

“The research is one of the most difficult parts about being a watchstander here,” said Kimbrough. “You get EPIRB signals, but you may have to do a lot of work to figure out who it belongs to and where it’s coming from.”

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