A U.S. Coast Guard boatcrew rescued four people approximately 30 miles south of Cape San Blas, Fla., Friday. Watchstanders at Coast Guard Station Panama City, Fla., received a report of a 55-foot fishing vessel, the CBS, taking on water 30 miles South of Cape San Blas with four people aboard. The vessel operator originally made a distress phone call to his wife using his satellite phone, who then subsequently relayed the information to the Coast Guard. Coast Guard Sector Mobile issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched a 45-foot response boat out of Station Panama City and an HC-144 Ocean Sentry fixed-wing aircraft from Coast Guard Aviation Training Center Mobile. Two good Samaritan vessels heard the UMIB and began transiting to offer assistance.
