Coast Guard Rescues Man on Personal Watercraft Near Miami

MIAMI – The U.S. Coast Guard rescued a man on a personal watercraft on Friday and said he was fortunate to have had a personal locating beacon with him.

The rescue took place 25 miles east of Miami, according to the Coast Guard.

Watch standers with the Seventh Coast Guard District Command Center received the personal locating beacon (PLB) notification at 12:59 p.m. and launched a Coast Guard Air Station Miami MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew.

The rescue crew arrived by 1:23 p.m., and brought the man to Jackson Memorial Hospital with no reported injuries and in stable condition, according to the Coast Guard. His name was not released.

“Because this mariner had a PLB and activated it, our rescue crews were able to quickly and accurately locate and rescue him,” said Capt. Todd Coggeshall, Seventh Coast Guard District chief of incident management.

“We always encourage mariners to have either properly registered emergency position indicating radio beacons or personal locating beacons for situations much like this, because it could be mean finding a mariner in distress sooner than later," Coggeshall added.

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard.