U.S.and Canadian Coast Guard Search for Missing Woman

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard C-130 aircraft are searching an area 470 miles southeast of Cape Cod for a woman reported missing from the 189-foot Canadian sail training vessel Picton Castle last night.

At approximately 9 p.m. Friday, personnel at the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received a call from the captain of thePicton Castle, reporting that one of his female crewmembers had gone missing from the vessel in 40 knot winds and 22-foot seas.

RCC Halifax contacted Coast Guardsmen at the RCC in Portsmouth, Va., who assumed control of the search.

At approximately 2 a.m. RCC Portsmouth diverted the motor vessel Lake Phoenix a nearby AMVER vessel (Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System) vessel to the scene to assist in the search.

At 5:30 a.m. a Coast Guard C-130 search crew, from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., was dispatched to the scene to relieve the crew of the Canadian C-130 who had been searching throughout the night.

U.S.and Canadian Coast Guard Search for Missing Woman

PORTSMOUTH, Va. – U.S. and Canadian Coast Guard C-130 aircraft are searching an area 470 miles southeast of Cape Cod for a woman reported missing from the 189-foot Canadian sail training vessel Picton Castle last night.

At approximately 9 p.m. Friday, personnel at the Rescue Coordination Center (RCC) in Halifax, Nova Scotia, received a call from the captain of thePicton Castle, reporting that one of his female crewmembers had gone missing from the vessel in 40 knot winds and 22-foot seas.

RCC Halifax contacted Coast Guardsmen at the RCC in Portsmouth, Va., who assumed control of the search.

At approximately 2 a.m. RCC Portsmouth diverted the motor vessel Lake Phoenix a nearby AMVER vessel (Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System) vessel to the scene to assist in the search.

At 5:30 a.m. a Coast Guard C-130 search crew, from Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C., was dispatched to the scene to relieve the crew of the Canadian C-130 who had been searching throughout the night.