The US Coast Guard coordinated the rescue of 27 crewmembers from the Ecuadorian-flagged fishing vessel Drennec after it experienced a fire approximately 527 miles (848 kilometres) southwest of the Galapagos Islands in Ecuador on Thursday, August 20.
At approximately 20:00 local time on Thursday, Coast Guard Southwest District watchstanders received multiple distress alerts from Drennec, including an emergency beacon alert and Iridium alert from a Garmin inReach device.
Watchstanders established contact with Garmin Response, which confirmed that the vessel had caught fire and all 27 crewmembers had abandoned ship into a liferaft.
Using the automated mutual-assistance vessel rescue (AMVER) system, coast guard watchstanders reached out to nearby vessels, alerting them to the situation and requesting assistance.
Two Good Samaritan vessels, the container vessel Oluf Maersk and the fishing vessel Ricky A, diverted to assist. Ricky A recovered all 27 mariners from the liferaft, while Oluf Maersk remained on-scene to assist.
At 10:15 on Friday, August 21, all 27 individuals were reported safely aboard Ricky A, which then transported them to Guayaquil, Ecuador.
AMVER is a worldwide voluntary ship-reporting system sponsored by the US Coast Guard.
Search and rescue authorities use AMVER vessel position information to identify participating commercial ships near a maritime distress and request their assistance. The coast guard said participation allows merchant vessels around the world to play a vital role in saving lives at sea.
