Two men and their dog have been rescued after 10 days adrift on a sailboat that lost power and fuel 200 miles (320 kilometers) off the coast of Delaware, the US Coast Guard said Tuesday.
Kevin Hyde, 65, and Joe Ditomasso, 76, were sailing from Cape May, New Jersey, to Marathon, Florida. But they disappeared after their sailboat, the Atrevida II, left North Carolina on December 3.
The Coast Guard was notified Sunday that the men were missing and launched a search from Florida to New Jersey. Coast Guard ships and aircraft participated in the mission along with Navy ships and recreational vessels.
On Tuesday, Hyde and Ditomasso waved their arms to attract the attention of the Silver Muna, a tanker off the coast of Delaware, the Coast Guard said.
Because the sailboat lost power and fuel, its radio and navigation equipment were not working, the coast guard added.
The men and their pet were loaded onto the tanker shortly after 4 pm An examination by the ship’s medical team did not reveal any urgent problems, the service said.
The men will remain aboard the Silver Muna until it reaches New York, where the Coast Guard will examine them and reunite them with their families and friends.
“This is an excellent example of the combined efforts of the maritime community to protect lives on the high seas,” Daniel Schrader, a spokesman for the Coast Guard, said in a statement.
Schrader also stressed the importance of those traveling on the high seas having a device known as an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon) that allows contact with emergency teams.