The U.S. Coast Guard successfully rescued a mother, her seven-year-old daughter, their pet tortoise, and their cat after they became stranded 1,000 miles off the coast of Hawaii amidst Hurricane Gilma. The rescue operation began on August 24 when the mother sent out an emergency signal from their 47-foot sailboat.
Upon receiving the distress signal, the Coast Guard alerted nearby vessels and deployed an aircraft for a search mission. The plane located the French-flagged vessel, the Albroc, around 9 a.m. on August 25, but challenging weather conditions delayed the rescue until 5 a.m. the next day.
During the rescue, the mother and daughter were reportedly signaling for help with distress flares and waving their arms. Wind speeds had reached 20 mph, with waves climbing to 6 feet, as the edges of Hurricane Gilma approached, bringing sustained winds of about 110 mph.
Rescuers faced a race against time, as they had only a six-hour window to extract the family safely. The U.S. Navy deployed a 754-foot liquid petroleum gas tanker along with a smaller team to assist in the operation. The family was successfully brought to safety and transported to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Honolulu, where they received care from Coast Guard representatives and the Honorary Consul of France.
Tragically, a male captain aboard the Albroc died during the ordeal, but his body was not recovered due to severe weather conditions. The sailboat remains adrift in the ocean, and there are no plans to recover it. Kevin Cooper, the search and rescue mission coordinator, praised the teamwork and coordination involved in the operation, highlighting the successful rescue of the mother and daughter from the path of Hurricane Gilma.