US Coast Guard, Navy Rescue Four Missing Divers off North Carolina

Four divers that went missing off the U.S. East Coast on Sunday were rescued Monday 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.

The U.S. Coast Guard said its watchstanders at Sector North Carolina initially received a notification Sunday from Coast Guard Sector Charleston stating four men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s, approximately 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. near noon, and had not resurfaced.  

Sectors Charleston and North Carolina coordinated a multi-asset search and rescue effort involving both air and vessel crews.

A Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City HC-130 Hercules airplane crew notified Coast Guard Sector North Carolina watchstanders at 12:45 a.m. that they had spotted an SOS-strobe light, located the four missing divers, and launched a life raft. The HC-130 coordinated with the U.S. Navy Destroyer USS Porter (DDG 78), which was conducting a training exercise near the divers’ location to assist. The Porter crew arrived on scene and rescued all four divers safely from the life raft.

A Coast Guard Station Oak Island 47-foot Motor Lifeboat crew arrived on location with the Porter and transferred the divers aboard. The boatcrew arrived at the station at approximately 6:10 a.m. and reunited the uninjured divers with friends and family.

“Any time the Coast Guard launches for a search and rescue case, it is always our hope and goal to be able to reunite those we are searching for with their friends and families,” said Capt. Timothy List, commander of Coast Guard Sector North Carolina. “In this case that is exactly what took place, which is always a great feeling for our rescue crews.”