Video: 3 stranded sailors rescued from tiny island after scrawling ‘SOS’ on sand

[Elderberry]

American Military News by Nelson Oliveira - New York Daily News   August 04, 2020

Three missing sailors were rescued from a tiny Pacific island over the weekend after writing a large “SOS” sign on the sand, U.S. and Australian authorities said Monday.

The men were found in “good condition” Sunday in Pikelot Island, which is part of the Micronesia archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean, according to the Australian defense department.

They had been missing for nearly three days when a team of searchers on Australian and U.S. aircraft spotted their distress signal on the uninhabited island.

The three men set out from Pulawat atoll aboard a 23-foot boat on Thursday and planned to travel Pulap atoll, a 23-mile journey, but they sailed off course and ran out of fuel, Australian officials said in a statement.

More: https://americanmilitarynews.com/2020/08/video-3-stranded-sailors-rescued-from-tiny-island-after-scrawling-sos-on-sand/


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[rangerrebew]

Missing Mariners Located by a KC-135 Tanker Thanks to Huge S.O.S. Written on the Beach
August 9, 2020 Stefano D'Urso Military Aviation
 
The three men went missing in Micronesia, prompting a joint U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force and Australian Defence Force rescue mission.

On July 29, 2020, three men were sailing aboard a 23-foot skiff from Pulawat to Pulap atolls in Micronesia, a quick 21 nm trip, but they ran out of fuel and drifted off course, reaching Pikelot, about 118 nm west of where they departed from. After they went missing, on July 31 Joint Rescue Sub-Center (JRSC) Guam was notified and activated naval vessels and a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130H from Air Station Barbers Point (Hawaii).

In addition, on August 1, the JRSC requested also the assistance of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the U.S. Air Force 506th Air Expeditionary Aerial Refueling Squadron from Andersen Air Force Base (Guam), currently constituted by aircraft and crews of the 203rd Air Refueling Squadron, Hawaii Air National Guard (ANG), and 171st Air Refueling Wing, Pennsylvania ANG.

The ADF responded with the HMAS Canberra (L02), which was conducting a Regional Presence Deployment as part of Task Group 635.3. The ship was already returning to Australia while the rest of the Task Group was enroute to Hawaii for the Rim of the Pacific 2020 exercise, better known as RIMPAC 2020, the world’s largest international maritime exercise held every two years.

https://theaviationist.com/2020/08/09/missing-mariners-located-by-a-kc-135-tanker-thanks-to-huge-s-o-s-written-on-the-beach/