Aug. 14 (UPI) — The Coast Guard said it found four divers who went missing in the Atlantic Ocean on Sunday shortly after midnight.
The agency said on social media that the four, who were reported missing hours earlier, were found and rescued about 46 miles southeast of Cape Fear River, N.C.
The Coast Guard said the Coast Guard C-130 from Air Station Elizabeth City spotted a strobe light in the water flashing an SOS signal at about 12:45 a.m. on Monday, according to Jonathan Lally, Coast Guard 5th District spokesperson.
The C-130 crew deployed a life raft from the back of the plane to the divers while the Coast Guard contacted a rescue ship to report their location to be picked up. Lally said the divers reported no apparent injuries.
The divers were taken to the Coast Guard Station Oak Island at 6:10 a.m. where they went through a medical screening before being released to family and friends. No other details about their time in the water were available.
The Coast Guard Sector North Carolina said they received a call from the Sector Charleston, S.C. about the missing men Sunday afternoon.
The men were diving from the pleasure craft Big Bill’s about 63 miles east of Myrtle Beach, S.C. about noon on Sunday, but never resurfaced at the time, prompting the search.
The two sectors launched a search using a helicopter and a Hercules aircraft crew, both from the Coast Guard Air Station Elizabeth City, N.C.; a 47-foot motor lifeboat crew from Coast Guard Station Oak Island, N.C.; the cutter an 87-foot patrol boat from Sandy Hook, N.J.; and the cutter Yellowfin, an 87-foot patrol boat from Charleston, S.C.
