Coast Guard rescues four from disabled boat off of Mississippi

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- The U.S. Coast Guard said on Tuesday it rescued four people on a disabled boat in the Gulfport Shipping Channel in Mississippi.

The Coast Guard Cutter Tiger Shark found the disabled 19-foot Mako skiff, carrying two adults and two children wearing life jackets, near Gulfport, Miss. shortly past noon.

"Thanks to the coordination between our units and partner agencies, we were able to locate the four missing boaters and bring them back home to their friends and family," Coast Guard Ensign Moriya French, a command duty officer at Coast Guard Sector Mobile, said in a statement.

The Coast Guard identified the boaters as Victoria Elizabeth Farr, 42; Richard Allen, 37; Piper Nicole Farr, 12; and Chase Jaxon Craig, 11.

Coast Guard Sector received a call from a concerned family friend before dawn Tuesday reporting that the boat had not come home after their expected return time of 8 p.m. on Monday.

After confirming that their truck and trailer were left behind at the Lake Mars Pier in Biloxi, Miss., the Coast Guard launched search vessels to seek out the boaters.

The boat's crew was taken to the Port of Gulfport while the disabled vessel was towed to the Gulfport Coast Guard station.

French said that boaters should make sure they have the proper equipment to call for help before departing.

"This incident serves as a reminder to the boating public to always have proper VHF-FM radio communication equipment, an EPIRB, SPOT GPS, and other geolocating devices onboard your vessel before going out to sea," said French.