Coast Guard Continues Search for Life Raft Off Catalina
The U.S. Coast Guard continued an ocean and aerial search Tuesday for a life raft belonging to an unidentified boat that reportedly sank near Santa Catalina Island.
The Coast Guard has not found a sunken vessel or the raft, and it does not know how many people--if any--are missing, said Lt. Hector Cintron. The Coast Guard responded Monday night to a mayday call and a flare launched off the coast of Catalina.
The first mayday call came in about 7:20 p.m. Monday, followed by a report that a sinking vessel had been abandoned. The calls were reported by Royal Caribbean’s Viking Serenade cruise ship, Cintron said.
After receiving the distress call, authorities issued radio instructions to those aboard the vessel to fire off a flare, Cintron said. When the Coast Guard responded to where it thought the flare came from, it found nothing, Cintron said.
“Hopefully, there’s nobody out there,” he said.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
