Two Overseas Shipholding Group product tankers rescued six people from sailing boats in separate incidents within 18 hours, the company says.
Crew from the 51,662-dwt Overseas Santorini (built 2010) first saved a family of four from a sailing boat in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean on 30 May.
The 46,900-dwt Overseas Nikiski (built 2009) picked up two people in the Gulf of Mexico the following day.
“I have been involved directly or indirectly in eight or 10 rescues at sea in over 40 years,” said OSG chief executive Sam Norton.
“I never imagined that in the course of 18 hours, we would have two rescues in quick succession.”
OSG said the Overseas Santorini was notified by the US Coast Guard of the sailing boat in distress, with the Azores the closest land more than 1,200 km (800 miles) to the east.
The boat was taking on water in severe weather. The Overseas Santorini was 55 km away and travelled at top speed to pick up the two adults and two children in fading light.
Next morning, the Overseas Nikiski responded to a second US Coast Guard alert to pick up two people from the drifting sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico that had lost steering and was facing a tropical depression.
“The recent rescues that unfolded on two of our vessels, separated by mere hours, are a reminder of the enormity of the ocean and its ability to make a single human life seem infinitely small,” said Norton.
New York-listed OSG has a fleet of 20 vessels, including 16 suezmax and MR tankers.
