May 17, 2015
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Coast Guard is experiencing a Rescue 21 outage due to equipment failure from the Florida Panhandle to Everglades City, Florida, and encourages the boating public to exercise caution while on the water.
At this time, the Coast Guard is severely restricted on the ability to receive and transmit on VHF-FM channel 16, and their capability is limited in responding to radio calls of mariners in distress.
The Coast Guard is working to troubleshoot the situation.
If a mariner finds themselves in distress or is aware of someone in distress, they should contact 911 or the Coast Guard at 727-824-7500.