ST. PETERSBURG, Fla.— The Coast Guard rescued a man from a sinking boat three miles southeast of Pinellas Point, St. Petersburg on Saturday.
At 9:19 p.m. watchstanders from Coast Guard Sector St. Petersburg received an uncorrelated MAYDAY call originating from the St. Petersburg/ Clearwater, Florida, area.
Crews from Station St. Petersburg, Station Sand Key, Florida, and Air Station Clearwater were launched.
At 10:45 p.m. watchstanders from Sector St. Petersburg received a report from the captain aboard the motor vessel Van Orchid that a man on an unlit, anchored 22-foot boat was waiving his arms and stating he was disabled near Pinellas Point within the search area.
At 11:23 p.m. a 29-foot Response Boat-Small II crew from Station St. Petersburg arrived on scene and confirmed the man had made the uncorrelated MAYDAY call. The man reported he had struck a buoy, and his boat was taking on water.
The boatcrew towed to boat to Demen’s Landing, St. Petersburg.
“This is why we treat every MAYDAY call as if it is a 911 hangup,” said Petty Officer 1st Class Josh Stevens, an operations specialist at the sector. “However, it is very important for mariners who make distress calls to give all pertinent information as to the nature of their distress, so that we might allocate our resources to best assist those mariners."
The incident is under investigation.