The U.S. Coast Guard successfully conducted a notable rescue earlier this week. This event was revealed on Wednesday after a 15-year-old boy from Alaska was found on an overturned fishing boat in the Bering Sea. He had endured nearly three days in the cold waters.
The rescue location was approximately four miles east of St. Lawrence Island. The island is about 100 miles from mainland Alaska and just 40 miles from Russia’s Chukchi Peninsula. The boy survived alone after two others on the vessel, his 16-year-old brother and their 39-year-old cousin, tragically lost their lives.
According to reports, the vessel had left Savoonga on Friday and failed to return on schedule by early Sunday. The boy was found experiencing symptoms of hypothermia but was alive.
The fishing vessel Northwest Explorer saved the teenager. A coordinated effort with Coast Guard aircrews included dropping a life raft to facilitate the recovery.
“People don’t survive those scenarios,” said Lt. Cmdr. Jonathon Resch, the Coast Guard pilot who located the teen. “People don’t flip boats and survive nights.”
The search and rescue involved multiple agencies. These included the Coast Guard, the Alaska Rescue Coordination Center, the Alaska Air National Guard, Alaska State Troopers, and local authorities. Several planes and helicopters participated in the operation.
Rear Adm. Bob Little of the Coast Guard Arctic District expressed sorrow over the lost lives, praising the combined efforts that led to the rescue.
The boy’s family listened to his rescue on the radio. When the captain announced the boy’s discovery, they celebrated, though they asked about the other missing persons.
Video from the rescue showed the boy in a yellow jacket on the capsized skiff. He was later pulled into a rescue basket after the crew tossed him a line.
There was a previous significant rescue reported earlier in the year where a family was rescued after a week adrift in the Pacific Ocean due to engine failure.
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