9 boaters remain missing as Coast Guard-led search continues near Micronesia

The Coast Guard and partner agencies are continuing to search for nine people aboard a 20-foot skiff missing for more than a week near the Federated States of Micronesia.

The boat was reported overdue July 31 at Ruo Island in the Hall Islands, about 625 miles southeast of Guam and 70 miles north of the Chuuk Islands, Coast Guard spokeswoman Chief Petty Officer Lisa Ferdinando said by email late Thursday.

The search has covered a broad area of the Western Pacific and involved Coast Guard and Air Force aircraft, a newly arrived Guam-based cutter and commercial ships.

The USCGC Vincent Danz, which reached its new homeport at Apra Harbor on July 26, joined the operation and prompted the Coast Guard to postpone the cutter’s welcoming ceremony.

The missing skiff was not equipped with a locator beacon, according to U.S. Coast Guard Joint Rescue Sub-Center Guam. The service and regional authorities have repeatedly urged mariners to carry the devices because they can sharply reduce the area rescuers must search after a vessel goes missing.

Two C-130 aircraft have participated in the effort, one from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Hawaii, and another from the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. Ferdinando did not say Thursday whether those aircraft remain involved.

At least two commercial vessels also joined the search through the Automated Mutal-Assistance Vessel Rescue program, or AMVER, which allows participating ships to be redirected to maritime emergencies, Ferdinando said.

The Vincent Daz was commissioned May 22 in New York City. It is the Coast Guard’s 62nd Sentinel-class fast-response cutter and the fourth assigned to Guam.

The ship is named for a Marine Corps veteran, Coast Guard reservist and NYC police officer who was killed responding to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.