LOUISIANA, USA — Three friends from Harvey spent 28 long hours in the Gulf of Mexico, 25 miles offshore.
They had engine problems, and their boat sank.
One of the men, Luan Nguyen shot video as he and the other boaters were floating in shark-infested waters.
While Nguyen and the others waited to be rescued, Coast Guard Lt. Commander Kevin Keefe was on shore, coordinating efforts to find them.
“That initial search area was roughly the size of Rhode Island," Keefe said.
It took about three hours to determine the 24-foot fishing boat launched from Delta Marina in Empire early Saturday.
The men were reported missing Sunday morning.
As the Coast Guard worked to narrow the search area, there was a break in the case.
A mobile phone belonging to one of the missing boaters suddenly found cell service.
“The individual was able to fire off a text saying, hey my boat sank, I’m floating in the middle of the gulf and sent a screenshot of his google maps display with his position icon on,” Keefe said.
Unfortunately, the text did not include the GPS coordinates.
But the Coast Guard was able to use Google Earth and other geographical reference points to determine within two nautical miles where the men were located.
A fixed-wing plane spotted the men.
Lt. Katy Caraway was the co-pilot of the Jayhawk helicopter that rushed to the location.
“The first thing that I noticed were jellyfish, actually,” Caraway said. “There were plenty of jellyfish around.”
But she said rescue boat crews at the scene also reported sharks in the water.
“That there were four sharks swarming the individuals and that they had been fighting off sharks with their hands and it was evidenced by a life jacket on one of the individuals that had been torn apart by a shark,” Caraway said.
Luan Nguyen gave details about his frightening encounter with the shark.
“The head part was in front of me and the shark from just out of nowhere bit the vest,” Nguyen said. “So, I pushed the shark and then I tried to push his nose.”
The three boaters were lifted into the helicopter around 1 p.m. Sunday afternoon.
Rescue swimmer, Petty Officer Richard Hoefle said the men did a lot to increase their chances of survival.
“They recognized the peril of their situation,” Hoefle said. “They put on their life jackets. They grabbed their cellphones, and they reached out for help, and they tied themselves together and they tied themselves to floating objects.
The Coast Guard crew called the rescue, extremely rewarding.
“I got to see all three patients come back into the helicopter, realize all three of them had survived. They all looked each other in the eye and said oh my God, we all made it,” Hoefle said. “They gave each other big hugs and then they fell asleep. They fell asleep because they were so exhausted.”
The family of the boaters released this statement:
(Boater) Son (Nguyen) is currently recovering and is unable to talk due to injuries. He says, “I’m so grateful to be alive. I know things wouldn’t have turned out like it did if it wasn’t for the efforts for everyone involved, from family to friends, everyone between, especially the Coast Guard.”
From the family: "We would like also to express great gratitude to the Delta Marina in Empire, Louisiana. The owners and staff of the marina went above and beyond to accommodate some of us while we waited there all day until we got word they were found.
Of course, we don’t want to forget the fishing community that helped in the search either sharing social media posts with tips on where to search and in the water getting the word out to keep any eye out for our loved ones.
To all family and friends spread across the United States that supported us with their outpouring of thoughts and prayers-- that kept us going to keep fighting to get our brothers home.
As a token of appreciation & immense gratitude for bringing home our beloved brother and his friends, Olive Branch Cafe at both locations is offering free meals to Coast Guard members for the rest of the week.”