Teen Survives Days atop Capsized Boat off Alaska
Teen Survives Days atop Capsized Boat off Alaska
The News
A 15-year-old boy survived roughly three days sitting on top of an overturned fishing skiff in Alaska's Bering Sea before a passing fishing vessel pulled him to safety, the U.S. Coast Guard said.
His brother and a cousin — the only other people aboard — drowned after the 18-foot boat flipped, according to rescuers.
A Coast Guard aircrew spotted the teen kneeling on the hull about four miles from St. Lawrence Island on the morning of Sept. 7. The good Samaritan vessel Northwest Explorer reeled him in with a heaving line and brought him aboard.
The Numbers
18 feet — the length of the fishing skiff that capsized.
40 degrees — the water temperature cited by the Coast Guard pilot who found him.
4 miles — how far from St. Lawrence Island the boy was found.
Timeline
The 18-foot fishing vessel departs Savoonga, on St. Lawrence Island, with three people aboard, according to the Coast Guard.
The boat is due back early in the day. It is reported overdue Sunday night, launching a search and rescue effort.
Weather delays the launch of a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircrew until Monday. That morning, Lt. Cmdr. Jonathon Resch spots the teen atop the skiff roughly four miles from the island. The aircrew drops flares and life rafts to make the overturned boat easier to see while waiting for the Northwest Explorer. Video of the rescue shows the boy kneeling on the hull as he is pulled in with a heaving line. He has symptoms of hypothermia. The two dead boaters are recovered from the water and taken, along with the survivor, to Nome.
Resch describes the rescue publicly for the first time in an interview with ABC News.
Reactions
Resch called the rescue an "emotional roller coaster." He told ABC News: "We are beyond excited and beyond grateful that we found him, and at the same time, we are overwhelmingly remorseful that we didn't find the other two in time."
He said the boy's survival was "nothing short of miraculous." "People don't survive those scenarios," Resch said. "People don't flip boats and survive nights. They don't do it in warm water, let alone in water that's, you know, 40 degrees."
Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the Coast Guard's Arctic District, said in a statement: "Our hearts go out to the families, friends, and communities affected by the tragic loss of these two mariners." He thanked the Northwest Explorer along with "Federal, State, Village first responders and mission partners who assisted in the effort that resulted in a life saved."
What's Next
The survivor was taken to Nome for medical attention after being treated for hypothermia symptoms aboard the rescue vessel.
The Coast Guard has not released the names of the two dead boaters or of the survivor.
Officials have also not said publicly what caused the skiff to capsize.
More
Savoonga sits on St. Lawrence Island, in the waters between mainland Alaska and Russia — The Washington Times described the rescue area as the Bering Strait between the two countries. It is one of the most remote stretches of water the Coast Guard covers, and the search could not even begin until weather allowed an aircraft to fly.
The case drew wide national coverage, from the Associated Press and The New York Times to ABC News and The Guardian, largely because survival in 40-degree water over multiple nights is so rare.
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