Lomalo rescues fishermen

The Lomalo, which rescued 36 fisherman, pictured in Majuro lagoon. Photo: Karen Earnshaw
The Lomalo, which rescued 36 fisherman, pictured in Majuro lagoon. Photo: Karen Earnshaw

The crew of the Papua New Guinea-flagged 229-foot purse seiner Glory Pacific No. 8 are safe following a joint rescue 2,071 miles southwest of Hawaii, Saturday.
All 36 survivors were rescued by good Samaritans aboard the 215-foot AMVER commercial fishing vessel Lomalo, registered in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. They then were to rendezvous with the 222-foot Papua New Guinea-flagged commercial fishing vessel Pacific Journey No.1.  Their crew will take the survivors aboard and bring them to their next port of call several days from now.
“This case is a perfect example of the necessary and strong coordination between the US Coast Guard and our New Zealand-based search and rescue counterparts,” said Christopher Kimbrough of Coast Guard Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu. “Our combined efforts coupled with the willingness of the Lomalo crew to help, led to the successful rescue of these fisherman in a very remote part of the Pacific. The fact that the Glory Pacific crew had the emergency equipment needed to abandon ship contributed significantly to the successful rescue of the full crew.”
Read more of this story and all the other news in the Marshall Islands Journal edition, October 16, 2015 by subscribing to the Online edition: email [email protected] for information.