Coast Guard Asks Help After Refusing To Cooperate

Coast Guard looking for 2 fishermen reported missing near Bryan Beach

Bryan Beach

FREEPORT, Texas – Search and rescue crews are looking for two fishermen reported missing Saturday afternoon near Bryan Beach.

According to Texas Equusearch, who is helping the U.S. Coast Guard with the search, two Vietnamese men in their mid-30s were wade fishing at Bryan Beach just off Highway 1495 at 4:30 p.m. A woman in her mid-30s was also with them.

The trio got caught up in the rough surf and were swept away, witnesses said. Bystanders were able to rescue the woman, but could not reach the two men.

The U.S. Coast Guard is searching the area with a boat and a helicopter, while Texas Equusearch is assisting with their sonar equipment and all-terrain vehicles.

The beach was temporarily closed on Saturday due the rough surf and high tides generated by Tropical Storm Karen.

It is hard to believe, this is the same U.S. Coast Guard who refused all help and continues to refuse all help in saving the 7 crew members missing on the schooner Nina.  The Nina disappeared in the Tasman Sea on June 4th, 2013.  Texas Equusearch approached the Coast Guard for help running drift modeling.  The Coast Guard said it could not run the drift modeling because the U.S. State Department would not let them.

The Rescue Coordination Center-New Zealand (RCC-NZ) suspended it's search for the 7 sailors missing on the Nina on July 5th, 2013.  Texas Equusearch was asked to advise Ricky Wright in his search for his daughter, Danielle Wright, age 19, who is a crew member aboard the Nina.  The family suspects the Nina is afloat but caught in reverse circulating currents which occur in the Tasman Sea. The Coast Guard was asked to run a computer program  at a nominal cost to the Coast Guard so the families could determine the most likely course the Nina may have taken.  The Coast Guard refusal cost the search significant sums and delayed the running of the programs pending location of a private contractor who agreed to run the programs for a price.  Despite drawbacks, Texas Equusearch found a better way to run the drift modeling adding to the accuracy of the program.

Many people speculate the Nina will eventually drift to an Australian beach like other boats lost in the region, hence presenting potential political problems for the US State Department which steadfastly has refused to devote resources to save the 7 sailors.  The boat will likely drift to land within 1 year, before Secretary of State John Kerry makes a bid for the White House.  While sailors can survive at sea for extended periods of time, it is unknown what that maximum period is.  Surviving a year at sea with no provisions, catching fish and depending upon rain for water, limits life expectancy.  At the least, survivors will testify to the hardships they faced because their country refused to lift a finger to save them.  Except for local coverage, a press blackout has existed around the missing sailors and the battle the families have endured to enlist the aid of the U.S. to help them.  Last year the yacht Scotch Bonnet was abandoned near the last known position of the Nina.  It took nearly 6 months to drift ashore and was spotted only one time during it's journey.

You can help save the 7 sailors by looking for the boat on satellite images taken by Digital Globe.

Texas Equusearch has proven a great friend of the U.S. Coast Guard and the US Navy, as well as law enforcement.  The non-profit organization has been able to locate missing people who the Coast Guard and law enforcement often are unable to locate.  The organization works under the direction of law enforcement and marshals volunteers to do searches.  They also deploy high technology equipment to solve missing persons cases.  To date, they have found over 300 people alive who disappeared, and over 100 persons who were deceased.