Twenty-seven mariners were brought to safety after a Venezuelan-flagged fishing vessel caught fire and later sank in the eastern Pacific, about 500 miles (804.7 km) north-northwest of the Galapagos Islands, Ecuador. The tanker Seaways Kenosha responded to the distress and recovered everyone from an emergency lifeboat.
The incident began when Rescue Coordination Center Alameda was notified on Saturday by the Garmin Search and Rescue Command Center, which received an SOS alert from the fishing vessel La Pena. Coast Guard watchstanders established contact using a crew member’s satellite messaging device and confirmed the vessel had caught fire and gone down.
All 27 mariners evacuated to the vessel’s emergency lifeboat. The survivors reported they had no life jackets, food, or water on board. Their only communications link was the satellite device, which had about 37% battery remaining—roughly 12 hours of use.
To extend communications, responders set a 90-minute check-in cycle so the crew could send position updates, answer questions, and then power down the device between scheduled contacts.
With no Coast Guard aircraft or surface assets nearby, the Rescue Coordination Center Alameda issued SafetyNet and SafetyCAST broadcasts to request assistance from vessels operating in the area. An AMVER system query identified two vessels within 115 miles (185.1 km) and 13 vessels within 575 miles (925.4 km) of the distress position.
After contacting nearby ships, the Coast Guard received a response from Seaways Kenosha, an AMVER-participating vessel about 100 miles (160.9 km) from the survivors, offering to assist. The tanker arrived on scene and safely recovered all 27 people.
No injuries or medical concerns were reported at the time of recovery. A previously reported injury was assessed as non-life-threatening. Capt. Patrick Dill, chief of incident management for the Coast Guard Southwest District, credited watchstanders for coordinating with multiple domestic and international partners and directing vessels to the survivors in a remote area of the Pacific.
AMVER is a voluntary, worldwide ship reporting system sponsored by the U.S. Coast Guard that supports search and rescue by identifying participating vessels near a distress position.
