A U.S. Navy MH-60 Knighthawk crew from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 hoists an ill 60-year-old mariner from the U.S.-flagged cable-laying ship Decisive on Jan. 13, 2026, about 125 miles off Guam. (U.S. Coast Guard)
A U.S. Navy helicopter crew airlifted a 60-year-old man showing signs of a heart attack from a commercial vessel Tuesday and flew him about 125 miles to a hospital on Guam, according to the Coast Guard.
An MH-60S Knighthawk crew from Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25 took the man, who was not identified, to Naval Hospital Guam, where he was listed in stable condition as of Wednesday, according to a Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam news release that day.
The Coast Guard does not receive updates to individuals’ medical conditions after evacuations are completed, Sector Guam spokeswoman Chief Warrant Officer 2 Sara Muir told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.
U.S. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Sub-Center Guam received a medical evacuation request from the U.S.-flagged cable-laying ship Decisive at about 10:10 a.m. on Jan. 12.
The vessel was more than 450 miles from Guam at the time — well beyond the range of hoist-capable aircraft such as the Knighthawk, which has a range of about 280 miles.
After coordination between the Coast Guard and Navy, the Decisive repositioned to about 125 miles offshore. At about 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, the helicopter crew hoisted the mariner from the ship and flew him to the hospital.
“This successful medical evacuation highlights the outstanding partnership between the U.S. Navy, U.S. Coast Guard, and our maritime industry partners in ensuring the safety of life at sea around Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands and getting mariners to a higher level of medical care when needed,” Cmdr. Grant Johnson, the U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue mission coordinator, said in the news release.
The rescue marked at least the third recent medical evacuation coordinated between the Coast Guard and Navy near Guam. In the other two cases, the same squadron evacuated a 27-year-old woman from Rota on Jan. 6 and a mariner from a foreign-flagged vessel on Dec. 31, according to the release.
Muir confirmed that both individuals were received on Guam in stable condition at the time.
