Coast Guard rescues crew member off tanker
The U.S. Coast Guard completed a challenging rescue mission of a crew member suffering abdominal pains from an oil tanker 100 miles west of Key West on Thursday.
A helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Miami, which had to refuel at Key West, airlifted 45-year-old Egardo Manakil, a citizen of the Philippines, and brought him to Key West. He was on the Cyprus-flagged tanker Front Energy.
“Due to the size of the vessel, the location of the hoist at sea and the condition of the patient, this rescue presented several challenges that were overcome by all those involved,” said Capt. James O’Connor, chief of search and rescue for the Seventh Coast Guard District.
The Coast Guard said the tanker was en route to Nigeria.