Today, the Coast Guard suspended their active search for a missing 46-year-old man last seen picking Opihi approximately a quarter nautical-mile south of Honokohau Harbor on Hawaiʻi Island.
On Saturday, December 18, Sector Honolulu watchstanders received a report from the Hawaiʻi County Fire Department stating they received a report that the freediver was seen being swept offshore due to a wave surge. They then issued an urgent Marine Information Broadcast notice to mariners and launched multiple Coast Guard assets in response.
In a press release Petty Officer 1st Class James Shaw, a search and rescue planner at Sector Honolulu, said, “A total of 29 searches were conducted covering 658 square miles totaling 29.34 hours of active searching. It is always a difficult decision to make, but we have suspended the search this afternoon pending any new information.”
