By Jojo Santo Tomas
For Variety
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday continued its search for six people aboard the disabled cargo vessel Mariana after an overturned boat was spotted in waters north of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.
The discovery came during a dawn search Saturday when a U.S. Coast Guard C-130 Hercules airplane crew sighted an overturned vessel.
The vessel was located about 34 nautical miles northeast of Pagan and approximately 100 nautical miles northeast of the Mariana’s last known position, said Chief Petty Officer Corinne Zilnicki out of the Coast Guard’s Pacific operations out of Hawai’i.
The search now includes air and sea assets from multiple agencies and allied partners, including Japan. Besides continued search patterns in the area by air, a Japanese coast guard vessel has also joined the U.S. Coast Guard’s sea assets.
Zilnicki said that although the discovery of the overturned vessel offers some guidance, it does not at all confirm that it is the missing Mariana.
The coordinated response highlights the scale of the challenge facing rescuers in rough conditions in the wake of Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
The Mariana is a 145-foot vessel registered in the United States with six aboard, genders unknown at this time. Its crew first reported trouble on Wednesday while operating about 140 miles northwest of Saipan.
Zilnicki said the vessel’s manager notified Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu that the ship had lost its starboard engine and needed assistance.
After receiving the distress report, the Coast Guard established a one-hour communication schedule with the vessel through the ship’s manager to track its status and maintain contact as conditions developed.
But that communication link was lost Wednesday evening, and no contact has been made since.
An initial search effort began Thursday morning when a Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules aircraft launched to search for the missing ship. However, the plane was forced to return to Guam because of heavy winds in the search area.
Those conditions came in the wake of Sinlaku, which battered Guam and the Marianas earlier in the week with strong winds, dangerous seas and powerful storm surge.
The severe weather has complicated rescue operations and likely affected the drifting vessel’s location, contributing to the large distance between the ship’s last reported position and the location where the overturned vessel was found.
The waters north of Saipan and Pagan are remote and can be difficult to search even under favorable weather conditions.
For families awaiting news, Saturday’s sighting marked the first major development since communications were lost.
Search crews were expected to continue through daylight hours as aircraft scanned surrounding waters and responding vessels moved toward the overturned ship’s location.
The Coast Guard has not said how long the search will continue.
