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HONOLULU — The Coast Guard is continuing its search today for a missing boater who placed a mayday call Thursday at 8:03 a.m. saying his vessel was taking on water and in danger of sinking 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona.
The Coast Guard has identified the mariner as 67-year-old Ron Ingraham and is believed to be the sole person aboard the 25-foot sailing vessel Malia which departed Kaunakakai Harbor, Molokai, to Manele Bay, Lanai.
A friend of Ingraham called Coast Guard Sector Honolulu Command Center Friday and sited Tuesday as the last time he spoke with him.
Currently searching are an HC-130 Hercules airplane crew and an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point. The 87-foot Coast Guard Cutter Ahi is no longer part of the search due to sever weather.
Watchstanders at Sector Honolulu Command Center received a mayday call over VHF radio channel 16 from a distressed mariner at 8:03 a.m. Thursday. The mariner reported flooding on his boat and provided a GPS position approximately 46 miles west of Kailua-Kona near Alenuihaha Channel before communications were lost.
Current on scene weather conditions are 35-mile per hour winds with eight to 15-foot seas.
No imagery is available for this case. If imagery becomes available, it will be published in an updated press release.