A yacht owned by Mark Zuckerberg did not immediately respond to a call for help from a skiff that ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska, but a maritime law expert said Monday that the crew may not have been forced to do so after the Coast Guard determined the ship was not in danger. A spokesperson for Meta’s CEO also said the crew did not immediately hear the radio call for help and when they did, another nearby ship had already provided assistance. The Aug. 3 incident gained attention in recent days after a cruise passenger posted on social media that the captain had said Zuckerberg’s yacht “refused” to respond. The U.S. Coast Guard said the 21-foot Hewescraft cutter first called it for help at approximately 9:32 p.m. they are expected to supervise. About 25 minutes later, the Coast Guard determined the ship was not in distress and issued a request for assistance. The skiff was able to reach Farragut Bay safely after the cruise ship Wilderness Legacy towed it there and helped it refuel. When another ship is in danger, everyone in the area is obligated to respond, as long as doing so does not put their own ship at risk. But maritime law expert Ian Ralby said this situation appears different, and that the crew of Zuckerberg’s yacht would not face that legal obligation. “It’s the difference between calling AAA and 911. You need an ambulance on the scene, that’s a distress call. You need someone to help you or tow your car, you call AAA,” said Ralby, who is president of the nonprofit Auxilium Worldwide that focuses on promoting sustainable development and ocean governance, among other goals. It’s a big difference in terms of the type of emergency, he said. “Both are concerning, both need help, but the legal obligations to respond are very different.” “There is no obligation to assist a ship that has run out of gas. Zuckerberg and his family were not on the 387-foot Launchpad yacht when this happened, according to his spokesperson, who did not specify what the yacht was doing at the time. “As noted by the Coast Guard, the ship was not in distress, and when the crew checked the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel than the one they were operating, assistance was already underway. “We are grateful that all parties are safe,” Zuckerberg said. Spokesman Brian Baker said. Coast Guard veteran Aaron Davenport, who spent three decades in the military branch responsible for water rescues, said running out of gas is simply not considered an emergency and that Launchpad was not obligated to help. “If Zuckerberg’s boat is there and this boat ran out of fuel, they have no obligation to help them. Zero,” Davenport said. “Is it common courtesy to help other sailors? Yes, because someday you’re going to need help.” The Coast Guard also won’t automatically deploy ships when a ship runs out of gas, but Davenport said that in Alaska’s harsh environment, a ship running out of gas could become an emergency if it hits 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 very quickly,” Davenport said, who worked as a consultant on maritime and safety issues for several years before retiring. The cruise passenger’s post brought attention to this incident. 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 August 5: “Our ship rescued a stranded boat last night and apparently we did so after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht, which was closer, and they repeatedly refused. to respond. (There was almost unanimous booing when the captain announced this),” he said. Subscribe to Morning Wire: Our flagship newsletter breaks down the day’s biggest headlines. The Coast Guard determined that the skiff was not in distress. The Coast Guard said in a statement that they determined within a half-hour after the skiff radioed that the small vessel was not in distress. A request for maritime assistance was transmitted on its behalf and the Wilderness Legacy responded, reaching the 21-foot vessel. About an hour later, Ralby said it’s a little unusual that the Launchpad crew didn’t hear the call for help because it’s common practice for ships to always monitor channel 16 on their radios and keep it as the default frequency to listen for any distress call or emergency call. But normally the Coast Guard tries to keep channel 16 as clear as possible so it can announce an emergency on that channel and ask anyone who can help to switch to a different channel to hear the details. without any harm to life,” said Ralby, a maritime lawyer with experience in more than 100 countries. “It doesn’t seem like there was any immediate problem in terms of threat to seafarers’ lives or concerns for the marine environment, which are the two main things that lead to that urgent distress call that all seafarers, no matter who they are, are legally required to try to respond to.”
