Your support helps us to tell the story
A ship’s captain clutching a cooler was rescued 30 miles off the coast of Florida by the US Coast Guard after Hurricane Milton wreaked havoc.
The man was spotted clinging to the make-shift liferaft as a helicopter crew from the Coast Guard Air Station Miami lifted him from the high seas to safety on Thursday afternoon.
However, this wasn’t the first time the seaman was rescued this week, as he first ran into trouble on Monday before the storm made landfall.
The captain of the fishing vessel “Captain Dave” alerted the coastguard at 12.40pm on Monday that he and a crew member were disabled 20 miles off John’s Pass.
A rescue boat and helicopter crew were dispatched and managed to hoist the sailors out and back to Air Station Clearwater in “good condition”. The vessel was abandoned with salvage arrangements to be made.
Two days later on Wednesday, with Milton barreling its way towards land, the captain went back out to the boat to make repairs at 3am but failed to check in.
Watchstanders were able to make radio contact with the captain, who said the rudder had been fouled and disabled during his attempt to return to port.
The conditions at the time saw 6-8ft seas with approximately 30mph winds but were quickly deteriorating as the storm approached. The captain was told to put on a life jacket and stay with the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon.
Watchstanders lost communications at around 6.45pm on Wednesday evening. When crews eventually caught up with him at around 1.30pm the next day the captain had endured up to 25ft seas in 90mph winds.
Lieutenant Commander Dana Grady, Sector St. Petersburg’s command center chief said: “This man survived in a nightmare scenario for even the most experienced mariner. To understand the severity of the hurricane conditions, we estimate he experienced approximately 75-90 mph winds, 20-25 foot seas, for an extended period of time to include overnight.
“He survived because of a life jacket, his emergency position indicating locator beacon, and a cooler."
After his second rescue, the captain was taken to Tampa General Hospital for treatment.
Hurricane Milton’s phenomenal strength made it one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes to ever be recorded, claiming at least 16 lives so far.
