Coast Guard Rescues 16 After Boat Sinks Off San Diego

The U.S. Coast Guard rescue mission off Southern California stretched into Saturday as air and surface crews scoured the Pacific for 11 people still missing after a suspected human smuggling boat sank about 140 miles west of Ensenada, Mexico. Sixteen people were pulled from the ocean early Friday morning after the vessel transmitted a mayday call, according to Coast Guard officials and reporting by the Associated Press.

The distress call came in around 1 a.m. Friday from a boat taking on water, Coast Guard Lt. Santiago Tamburini said. A rescue helicopter reached the scene about two hours later, and a crew that included a rescue swimmer spent roughly 90 minutes pulling survivors from the waves. “People were holding onto each other, to debris, just treading and trying to stay above water before being rescued,” Tamburini told the AP.

The people pulled from the water were flown by helicopter to San Diego and transported to hospitals, the Mexican consulate in San Diego said, adding that it had offered consular assistance. The consulate said those rescued were Mexican nationals. One survivor was being treated for a suspected shark bite and two were in critical condition, authorities said.

No vessel was recovered at the scene — only debris. It was unclear what type of boat was involved, where it had come from or where it was headed, the Coast Guard said. “Boats in that area can be for fishing, leisure, personal recreation. We just don’t know what they were doing out there. We all know it’s a suspected smuggling route,” Tamburini said.

Coast Guard Rescue Search Covers 950 Square Miles

The search area spanned about 950 square nautical miles of open Pacific, officials said, with two helicopters, a fixed-wing aircraft, a Coast Guard cutter and a U.S. Navy combat ship continuing the effort overnight. Survivors told rescuers that as many as 27 people had been aboard the vessel, and some but not all of those rescued were wearing life vests.

Tamburini described the sea in that area as unforgiving and said it was unclear whether the vessel got lost, suffered engine failure or was swept far out to sea.

Officials Point to Suspected Smuggling Operation

A spokesperson for the City of San Diego said a human smuggling boat was at the scene, NBC San Diego reported. The Coast Guard told the New York Post it could not confirm the vessel was part of a human smuggling operation, but Capt. Robert Tucker, commander of Coast Guard Sector San Diego, said the case underscored the dangers of illegal sea crossings.

“The vessel had a large number of people onboard and was following a route normally used in illegal maritime smuggling operations,” Tucker said. “Offshore conditions are unforgiving and can quickly result in death.”

As the rescue unfolded, San Diego hospitals were placed on alert and ambulances were staged at the Coast Guard station in the Embarcadero, according to local reports.

Recent Maritime Smuggling Attempts Off Southern California

The sinking follows a series of maritime smuggling attempts along the Southern California coast in recent weeks, officials say:

• October 3: U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations intercepted a boat carrying 14 Mexican nationals — 11 adult men, two adult women and one accompanied juvenile — south of Newport Beach. The vessel was brought to a Coast Guard dock and everyone aboard was turned over to the Border Patrol, the Department of Homeland Security said. A previously deported man was later charged in connection with the operation, according to the Justice Department.
• Mid-September: A boat carrying about a dozen men landed at a private dock in Newport Beach, with passengers scattering into the neighborhood before authorities could respond, according to local reporting.
• Earlier: A Coast Guard vessel intercepted a 28-foot cabin boat carrying two dozen suspected migrants in waters due west of Newport, turning those aboard over to the Border Patrol.
• July: Federal agents found 21 migrants packed onto a small smuggling boat, including a 56-year-old man who was unresponsive and later died, according to the New York Post.

Smugglers Shift to Sea Routes as Border Security Tightens

Federal officials say smugglers have increasingly turned to sea routes as security has tightened along the land border at the U.S.-Mexico border. Maritime crossings are among the most expensive — and riskiest — ways traffickers move people into the United States, authorities say.

The investigation into the sinking, and the fate of the 11 people still missing, was continuing Saturday as search crews worked the Pacific overnight.