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Subscribe to RSSThe U.S. Coast Guard says a distress call reporting an explosion on a yacht off New Jersey's coast was likely a hoax. WNBC-TV's Katy Tur reports.
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended a search for 21 people who abandoned ship after a reported explosion Monday on a yacht off the coast of central New Jersey, saying the incident was believed to be a hoax.
The FBI in New Jersey has opened an investigation to determine whether any federal laws were violated, according to NBCNewYork.com. It is being conducted jointly with the Coast Guard.
The rescue mission was launched after authorities received an emergency radio transmission around 4:20 p.m. Monday from a boat identifying itself as Blind Date, according to a Coast Guard press release. The caller reported the yacht carrying 21 passengers, seven of whom were injured, sank about 17 nautical miles east of Sandy Hook, N.J., after an explosion destroyed the boat’s electronics and GPS. The caller said all passengers had made it on to life rafts.
The Coast Guard deployed two boat crews and four helicopters in Monday’s search. Response units from the New York City Police Department, Fire Department, the New Jersey State Police and the Nassau County Police Department were also on the scene.
Chip East/Reuters
CW3 Troy Loining of the U.S. Coast Guard speaks to journalists outside the gates of the Coast Guard station at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, Monday. The U.S. Coast Guard has found no debris or survivors from a reported explosion aboard Blind Date, a yacht 17.5 miles (28 km) off the New Jersey coast, raising the possibility that the incident could have been a hoax, spokesman Petty Officer Erik Swanson said on Monday.
Additionally, Commander Kenneth Pierro of Coast Guard Sector New York said that more than 200 first responders had assembled at mass casualty stations, and officials said several good Samaritans had assisted authorities in the lengthy search, reported NBCNewYork.com.
But after hours of searching, rescue crews found no sign of any distress in the water, and it became clear there was no explosion.
“We believe it was a hoax,” said Coast Guard Chief Warrant Officer Troy Loining. “We didn’t find anything.”
Making a false distress call is a felony, with a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of performing the search.
While no official cost estimates have been released, Coast Guard spokesperson Jetta Disco told msnbc.com that the price of covering the Coast Guard’s response in this rescue mission alone will be well over $100,000.
So far, no state or local agencies have received any missing person reports, according to NBCNewYork.com.
The Coast Guard and other state and local agencies responded last year to more than 60 suspected hoax calls in the northern Hudson River region, including one claiming a 33-foot sailboat was sinking, according to the Coast Guard press release. A 10-hour search costing almost $88,000 turned up no boaters, and an investigation was launched. No one has been prosecuted.
“Sham sinkings, like bomb threats and other hoaxes, needlessly risk the lives of first responders and waste resources dedicated to keeping the public safe from harm," Rebekah Carmichael, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey, told NBCNewYork.com's Jonathan Dienst. "We are working with the Coast Guard and our other law enforcement partners who are looking into this matter, and urge anyone with leads to contact the Coast Guard or the New Jersey FBI immediately.”
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Bad first paragraph, gives a false impression. It says: "The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended a search for 21 people who abandoned ship after a reported explosion Monday on a yacht off the coast of central New Jersey, saying the incident was believed to be a hoax." It should say, "The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended a search for a reported 21 people said to have abandoned ship following an explosion Monday, . . . ." As it stands, it sounds like 21 people really did abandon ship, but the fact that they did so was, reportedly, an explosion. At least as I understand the article, the whole thing is believed to be a hoax and there are no people who abandoned ship.
hopefully the person(s) calling in this hoax are caught and get the max penalty. The coast guard is spread so thin for everything they are responsible for the last thing they need is to tie up all these assets on a hoax when someone with a real emergency would need them.
Yeah, I don't see where the fun is in calling in a fake explosion. At first I thought it was a cover for some other crime, and they were diverting attention.
Besides the money that the gov't is out, there were many EMS & Fire volunteers who left their jobs to lend a hand. This hoax took time away from real people with real emergencies.
I suspect Davy Jones
He died a few months back. RIP Daydream Believer...
Keel haul the scurvy lot! Arrggghhh!
Why would anyone do that? Not enough fun on a yacht?!
Snookie farted
Twas not an hoax but rather an joke.
Hmm, I think it's somewhere in the middle. A Hoke
Yup, pretty hokey.
If this was a hoax, and if the perpetrators are caught, the Coast Guard should put them on a boat named "Blind Date", put an explosive device on it with a timer, tow them waaaaaay out to sea, and leave them; with a radio so that they can call the Coast Guard for help of course.
What else would you expect from New Jersey?
No one noticed the Coast Guard spokesperson has one of the best names ever? Jetta Disco.
He's an awesome dancer.
Poorly written story that starts with the headline. Shouldn't it read: Coast Guard believes NJ yacht "explosion" was hoax. The story would leave the ready to believe 21 people were injured but the cause of their injuries was made up. The "explosion" should be quotes. The explosion is the questioned event, not the belief that it was a hoax. The accompanying photo looks like body bags from a recovery mission. Only by reading the find print under the photo is the reader left with another question mark.
How about making the first two sentences read:
The U.S. Coast Guard has suspended a search for 21 people who reportedly abandoned ship after an unverified mayday call on Monday reported an explosion aboard a yacht off the coast of central New Jersey. The Coast Guard is investigating the report as a hoax.
Good grief. My 10 year old writes better!
Poorly written...I agree. And they removed several comments from before when blog first posted.
Jetta needs to keep looking.........I heard it was a "Three hour tour, a three hour tour...".........Gilligan!
Is there even a yacht called "BLIND DATE"?
If this was a hoax I hope they are found, forced to reimburse all agencies that were pulled off their jobs on top of a hefty fine and imprisonment
As a Coast Guard Auxiliary Watchstander at Station Sandy Hook, I hope the people who did this realize they put the lives of very courageous people at risk. The Coast Guard has lost several helicopters in the last few years and these are dangerous operations. The men and women at Station Sandy Hook and Sector NY are deeply concerned about our country and those who did this took advantage of the bravery of some of the finest young people in the country.
The hoax is a diversionary tactic. Get everyone looking in one area so you can complete your drug drop/other crime in another area. Happens in the Gulf of Mexico too. Find the source and you will likely get more than a just a bust for a hoax.
Sounds like insurance fraud to me...Maybe Blind Date was already sinking in debt and this is a perfect way to abandon ship. Get your friends together and party one last time (notice the mayday was called in at 4:20) and everyone manages to escape on life boats..??? Fishy Fishy but definately Joizy style.
My guess is that it may have been some kind of distraction for some thing else to take place. Maybe someone was sneaking something in from the ocean somewhere a little distance away and wanted the attention of the authorities someplace else. It seems to me that they went through some trouble to place this call. Like by using a satelite phone and by already having answers and explanations to all of the Coast Guards questions. If that is the case and something was snuck into our country, I just hope it isn't anything too serious...
If and when they catch the SOB who reported the false MAYDAY they should put he \ she \ they in a dingy 17 miles off shore and leave them their for themselves to rescue or feed the sharks either way
Nevermind. Read the article again and its obvious there was no boat and no people at all. Duh me
The guy did not know how to get a yaught , so he just said there was one. He can be found at his own funeral in a disguise. We all have seen the commercial.........