Identifying the movements of vessels assigned to the search of the ATREVIDA II sailing vessel
On the 3rd December, 2022, the 30 foot sailboat ATREVIDA II departed from the Oregon inlet on a voyage towards Jupiter Florida. On board were 2 individuals as well as a dog. On the 11th December, the sailboat was reported missing and the United States Coast Guard deployed 3 vessels to search for the missing sailboat. Alongside this, the US Coast Guard requested assistance from multiple civilian vessels located along the eastern US seaboard. The ATREVIDA II was eventually located by the Hong Kong flagged chemical tanker SILVER MUNA (IMO: 9718856) on the 13th December.
While the initial search area had been centered around the waters of northern Florida, on the 13th December, the US Coast Guard expanded the search to the waters east of New Jersey. Spire plotted the available AIS data of the 3 vessels described as participating in the search for the ATREVIDA II, the USCGC OAK (MMSI: 369906000), the GC RICHARD SNYDER (MMSI: 338926427) and the USS SAN JACINTO (MMSI: 338933000). Alongside these three vessels, the last sighting of the ATREVIDA II was also plotted in order to understand the areas of search for each vessel.
For the USCGC OAK, Spire identified a transit from North Carolina to Rhode Island, with little to no deviations in course or speed identified within the transit. The OAK is a seagoing buoy tender, with a primary mission of servicing aids-to-navigation (ATON). However, the vessel also supports search & rescue, domestic icebreaking, maritime law enforcement as well as national defense. As there were no deviations identified during the transit, it is unlikely that the OAK was able to locate the ATREVIDA II during its transit.
The GC RICHARD SNYDER is a Sentinel-class cutter, designed to perform search and rescue missions, port security as well as the interception of smugglers. Spire was not able to identify many AIS positions for the RICHARD SNYDER. However, a singular AIS point from the 14th December at approximately 12:59 UTC placed the vessel southeast of Virginia Beach. The vessel was heading north along the US east coast, making it highly likely that the RICHARD SNYDER had been searching for the ATREVIDA II along the coastlines of Florida and Georgia, as well as North & South Carolina.
The USS SAN JACINTO is a Ticonderoga-class cruiser in the United States Navy, with the ship’s home port in Norfolk, Virginia. Spire identified the SAN JACINTO likely conducting a search for the ATREVIDA II east of Jacksonville, Florida. The SAN JACINTO was likely searching for the sailboat off the coast of Florida from the 13th-14th December. Once the ATREVIDA II was found by the SILVER MUNA on the evening of the 13th December, the SAN JACINTO likely begun transiting back to its home port of Norfolk Virginia. The vessel arrived on the 15th December at approximately 18:50 UTC.
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SILVER MUNA IMO 9718856
The SILVER MUNA is a Hong Kong flagged chemical tanker managed by Tristar Transport LLC. The SILVER MUNA was transiting the North Atlantic Ocean from the Netherlands to New York when it located the ATREVIDA II.
The SILVER MUNA entered American waters on the afternoon of the 13th December. On the 13th December at approximately 15:05 UTC the SILVER MUNA changed heading for a more northerly heading. Around the time of this heading change, Spire identified the SILVER MUNA decreasing its speed from 10-11 knots to roughly 8 knots. At 18:11 UTC the SILVER MUNA changed heading again to head almost directly east. The speed also reduced substantially to 3-6 knots. This period continued until 21:23 UTC, when the SILVER MUNA changed heading again and continued towards New York. From 18:11 to 21:23 UTC, Spire assessed that the SILVER MUNA almost certainly located and picked up the crew from the ATREVIDA II during this time period.
The period of slow speed and heading change identified in both Figures 7 & 8 corroborate the reports from the US Coast Guard, which stated that the ATREVIDA II had been located approximately 200 miles east of Delaware. Of note is that the three Coast Guard and US Navy vessels assigned to the search had not been identified on AIS searching this area, with the main focal point centered around the Florida coastline.