U.S. Coast Guard officials are investigating multiple reports of false distress calls occurring recently in Southeast Alaska, a situation they said is putting mariners lives at risk.
The public should be aware that knowingly and willfully communicating false distress messages such as a flare or radio communication to the Coast Guard or causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when not needed is considered a felony under federal law, Coast Guard officials said. The offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, up to a $350,000 criminal fine, a $10,000 civil fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard for the cost of each search.
So far in fiscal year 2020, the Coast Guard has launched on 102 cases that could not be resolved, including 64 unintentional/accidental electronic alerts, 15 abandoned/derelict vessels, seven uncorrelated maydays, two people in the water, eight flare sightings and three capsized boats.
“When we launch our small boats and crews, we anticipate that we are answering the call of someone in distress, and it puts us at a serious disadvantage to help those who are truly in distress if we are launching on a false distress call,” said Chief Petty Officer Mahire A’Giza, officer-in-charge of Coast Guard Station Juneau. “We have launched our small boats to search with Coast Guard helicopters for at least two hours on three separate, unresolved flare cases in the Gastineau channel along over the last two weeks.”
The public is asked to report any information regarding false distress calls via the CGIS TIPS mobile app available on smart devices, via uscg.mil/CGIS or through the 17th District command center at 907-463-2000.
