The Coast Guard and other U.S. and Pacific partners continued to search Thursday for missing crew members of the cargo vessel Mariana, after rescue divers recovered the body of one crew member April 20 inside the capsized cargo vessel off Saipan.
Coast Guard aircrews and the crew of fast response cutter Oliver Henry continued searching east of the Northern Mariana Islands. A Japan Coast Guard Gulfstream V jet crew is was scheduled to join conduct additional searches Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, Coast Guard HC-130 Hercules airplane crews conducted search patterns 44 nautical miles northeast of Agrihan, about 250 miles north of Saipan.
Divers from the U.S. Air Force 31st Rescue Squadron recovered the deceased crew member from Mariana during dive operations Monday. The divers conducted a comprehensive subsurface evaluation of the Mariana's exterior and used an underwater remotely operated drone to search the interior of the vessel.
Crews continue to search for five missing crewmen and an orange 12-person life raft in the vicinity of the Northern Mariana Islands. The ongoing effort already elapsed more than 71 hours and covered about 100,000 square nautical miles, Coast Guard officials say.
The 145’ cargo vessel with six people aboard went missing 140 miles north-northwest of Saipan April 15 after suffering mechanical failure and then losing contact with the Coast Guard. A HC-130 Hercules aircraft was launched from Air Station Barbers Point to search for the vessel but was forced to turn back to Guam due to heavy winds in the search area brought on by Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
The search effort run through Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu has included the Coast Guard cutters Frederick Hatch and Oliver Henry, Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam, Apra Harbor, Guam; the Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, Kapolei, Hawaii ; Air Force 31st Rescue Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan; Air Force 36th Airlift Squadron, Yokota Air Base, Tokyo.
A Navy P-8A Poseidon airplane crew from Patrol Squadron 26 , Commander, Task Force 72; a Japan Coast Guard Gulfstream V jet and patrol vessel Akitsushima based at Yokohama, Japan; and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon airplane crew from RNZAF Base Ohakea, New Zealand .
