The Council of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has endorsed the decision of a Panel of Judges that the 2009 IMO Award for Exceptional Bravery at Sea should go to three nominees. U.S. citizens Maurice and Sophie Conti were nominated by New Zealand for the rescue of three crew members from the yacht Timella, which had grounded and then sunk off a remote South Pacific coral reef. The Contis are non-professional sailors who planned and executed the rescue while sailing with their family. AST2 Abram A. Heller of the U.S. Coast Guard was also nominated by the United States for single-handedly rescuing eight crew members of the foundered F/V Alaska Ranger in arctic weather conditions.