Panga adrift with people aboard prompts possible Coast Guard SAR
A drifting panga with people aboard prompted a possible Coast Guard search-and-rescue response after a vessel reported it dead in the water and said occupants may have signaled with a flashlight. Subsequent radio traffic reported no one in the water, while Coast Guard personnel discussed a potential aircraft search area and asked about available support and flight operations.
October 5, 2026
Back when you were at 3216, basically in the shipping lane you're on, there was a Ponga that's just dead in the water there. People sitting on it. I think they were trying to show a flashlight to you. Not sure if you guys saw it. We do have Coast Guard en route because it's possible a SAR case.
October 5, 2026
I'm not seeing anybody like throwing water over the sides or any emergency other than that they're not moving. But yeah, we just saw what looked like a strobe light or something like that. Standby, let me check with the Coast Guard.
October 5, 2026
Copy, we've plotted a flare cone based on those characteristics, and with the direction of drift, we would essentially have, if we sent an aircraft out there, the search area would be essentially centered over your current position of about a five mile box. Not quite sure how many supporting surface vessels you have in your group. Is there any aircraft attached to anybody in your group right now that may be able to assist in the search effort? And or, if we send an aircraft out there, would it be interfering with any flight operations? Over.
Summary
A drifting panga with people aboard prompted a possible Coast Guard search-and-rescue response after a vessel reported it dead in the water and said occupants may have signaled with a flashlight. Subsequent radio traffic reported no one in the water, while Coast Guard personnel discussed a potential aircraft search area and asked about available support and flight operations.
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Weekly Stats
Maritime VHF traffic this week totaled 13299 recorded communications, across all 7 channels. Hail accounted for 3366, Sécurité for 1634, and Pan Pan for 245. There were 10 Mayday calls.
