The US Coast Guard carried out a challenging medical rescue in the North Pacific after the 58-year-old captain of a Japanese container ship suffered severe abdominal pain in late September. The captain required urgent hospital treatment while his vessel was sailing far from medical facilities.
The 991-foot container ship One Majesty was located approximately 58 miles south of Adak, a remote island in Alaska’s Aleutian chain. The nearest Coast Guard air station in Kodiak was more than 1,000 miles away.
An MH-60 Jayhawk rescue helicopter was dispatched, with its crew making multiple stops to refuel at Dutch Harbor and Adak. To manage crew fatigue and ensure the mission could be completed safely, the Alaska Air National Guard deployed an HC-130J Combat King II aircraft carrying a fresh Coast Guard helicopter crew and two pararescuemen. A second Jayhawk was also positioned at Cold Bay as backup.
The fresh helicopter crew then flew the final 58 miles to the ship, supported by the HC-130J overhead. A rescue swimmer helped hoist the captain from the vessel before he was transported to Adak. He was subsequently transferred to the HC-130J and flown to Anchorage, where paramedics took over his medical care.