A spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg said the crew of a yacht owned by the Meta CEO didn't respond to a call for help from a skiff that ran out of fuel because it did not hear their radio call and by the time it did, another nearby ship had already rendered assistance.
The skiff ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska. The 3 Aug incident gained attention in recent days after a passenger on the cruise ship posted on social media that the captain had said Mr Zuckerberg’s yacht “refused” to respond.
The US Coast Guard said the 21ft Hewescraft vessel first hailed it for assistance at approximately 9.32pm, using a radio frequency all boats are expected to monitor. About 25 minutes later, the Coast Guard determined the vessel was not in distress and issued an assistance request.
The skiff was able to make it safely to Farragut Bay after the Wilderness Legacy cruise ship towed it there, and helped it refuel.
A maritime law expert said on Monday the crew may not have been obligated to after the Coast Guard determined the boat wasn't in distress.
When another ship is in distress, everyone in the area is obligated to respond as long as doing so doesn't put their own ship at risk. But maritime law expert Ian Ralby said this situation appears different, and the crew of Mr Zuckerberg's yacht wouldn't face that legal obligation.
“It’s the difference between calling AAA and 911. You need an ambulance on site, that’s a distress call. You need somebody to give you a jump or to tow your car, you call AAA,” said Mr Ralby, who is president of the nonprofit Auxilium Worldwide that focuses on promoting sustainable development and ocean governance, among other goals. It is a big difference in terms of the emergency type, he said.
"Both concerning, both needing assistance, but the legal obligations to respond are very different.”
Mr Zuckerberg and his family were not on the 387ft Launchpad yacht when this happened, according to his spokesperson, who didn't specify what the yacht was doing at the time.
“As the Coast Guard noted, the boat was not in distress, and by the time the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, the assist was already underway. We’re grateful all parties are safe," Mr Zuckerberg's spokesperson, Brian Baker, said.
Retired Coast Guard Captain Aaron C Davenport, who spent three decades with the branch of the military responsible for rescues on the water, said running out of gas simply isn't considered an emergency, and the Launchpad wasn't obligated to help.
“If Zuckerberg’s ship is there and this vessel just ran out of fuel, they’re under no obligation whatsoever to assist them. Zero,” said Mr Davenport, who led rescues in the Bering Sea during his career.
“Is it that common courtesy to help other mariners out? Yes, because someday you’re going to need assistance.”
The Coast Guard also isn't going to automatically deploy ships when a ship runs out of gas, but Mr Davenport said that in the harsh environment of Alaska a ship that ran out of gas could become an emergency if it drifts into some rocks or a storm is brewing. The fact that this cruise ship responded saved the Coast Guard a trip.
“Alaska is a remote place so it could easily go from non-emergency to emergency and very quickly,” said Mr Davenport, who worked as a consultant on security and maritime issues for several years before retiring.
The Alaska Beacon first reported on what happened after Michael Love, who said he was a passenger on the Wilderness Legacy cruise ship, posted on Bluesky on 5 Aug.
“Our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht – which was closer – and they repeatedly refused to respond. (There was near unanimous booing when the captain announced this),” he said.
The Coast Guard said in a statement that they determined within half an hour of when the skiff radioed in that the small ship wasn't in distress. A marine assistance request was broadcast on their behalf, and the Wilderness Legacy responded, reaching the 21ft vessel about an hour later.
Mr Ralby said it's a little unusual that the Launchpad crew missed the call for help because it is common practice for ships to always be monitoring channel 16 on their radios and keep it as the default frequency to hear any distress calls or emergency notices.
But typically the Coast Guard tries to keep channel 16 as free as possible so they might announce an emergency on that channel and ask anyone who can help to switch to a different channel to hear the details.
“The situation was resolved without any harm to life," said Mr Ralby, who is a maritime lawyer with experience in more than 100 countries.
"It does not seem that there was any immediate issue in terms of threat to life of mariners or concerns for the marine environment, which are the two main things that lead to that urgent distress call where all mariners no matter who they are legally obligated to try and respond.”
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