LAKE WORTH BEACH, Florida. Coast Guard officials said on Wednesday that they are looking for an overdue ship with about 20 people on board going from the Bahamas to Lake Worth Beach.
Officials said they received a report on Tuesday that the boat, a blue-and-white 29-foot Mako Cuddy Cabin, was last known to leave Bimini on Monday, but did not arrive as expected.
According to the Coast Guard, the ship and people were on their way to Lake Worth Beach.
The Coast Guard said on Wednesday they were warned by the Royal Bahamas Defense Force for help locating the boat.
“They didn’t have the ship’s name, they said there were about 20 people on board, they didn’t have specific nationalities or names to proceed,” said Jose Hernandez of the US Coast Guard.
Hernandez said the Coast Guard has been in the Atlantic Ocean since 5 a.m. to help with the search.
“In this case, we don’t really have the location except the final destination, so we’re just looking for the Gulf Stream between the Bahamas and South Florida,” he said.
Hernandez said conducting a search is labor intensive.
“They take into account the size of the ship, the amount of gasoline and the engine it has. Then you have other people mapping the actual currents and the actual weather,” he said.
Below are the agencies and crews looking for the missing boat:
- Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater C-130 Hercules Aircrew
- Coast Guard Air Station Miami HC-144 Ocean Sentry aircrew
- Coast Guard Cutter Margaret Norvel crew
- Royal Bahamas Defense Force Area Units
- Air resources from the Bahamas Air Sea Rescue Association
The Coast Guard said there was no timetable for how long they would continue to search for the boat.
Anyone who can assist with the search is urged to contact the Coast Guard District Seven Command Center at 305-415-6800.