The U.S. Coast Guard is investigating a possible link between the hoax call regarding an explosion aboard the megayacht Blind Date and a separate hoax in May in Texas.
Capt. Gregory P. Hitchen, deputy commander of Coast Guard Sector New York, says a tip was received that has helped generate further leads. The tip referred them to a distress call about a fishing boat in the Houston area, placed in May. In that case, no boat was found after 36 hours, nor were any fishermen or boats reported overdue or missing. Hitchen says the New York division of the Coast Guard was unaware of the call because it had been classed as “an uncorrelated, unresolved call,” not initially a hoax. Regardless, he says, “it had enough similarities that we felt it worthy of passing word on to the public.” The similarities were specific terminology that a typical boater wouldn’t use. “The person seems to have some familiarity with the Coast Guard,” Hitchen adds.
In the Texas case, a call was received by Coast Guard sector Houston-Galveston on May 21 at 1:15 pm local time. “This is fishing vessel Scallywag,” the caller stated. “We’re about, probably, 2.2 miles from the {inaudible}. Shoot, our electronics are down, I couldn’t give you an exact location.” He also stated, “We have an onboard emergency. We are taking on water, sir.”
As to the similar terms used in both cases, Hitchen says the callers stated they were “taking on water,” versus sinking. They also mentioned “souls” rather than “people” for passengers. Both callers said either an “electronic array” or “antenna” was down, and both described positions within one-tenth of a mile. Furthermore, Hitchen says, both referred to “orange liferafts,” not just “liferafts,” and “beacon” to describe their handheld radios. Finally, Hitchen says, both male callers had similarly calm yet convincing tones of voice.
“The voices sound similar,” explains Michael Donnelly, a special agent in the Coast Guard Investigative Service New York Field Office. He adds that the Coast Guard is waiting for a voice analysis to be performed to determine if the voices are indeed the same.
While neither Hitchen nor Donnelly mentioned the source of the Texas lead in a press conference held this morning, another Coast Guard spokesperson says it came from a reporter. He did not identify the person, either.
However, MegayachtNews.com has learned it was Robert Arnold, who works for KPRC in Houston. On June 13, Arnold reported, “The more we listened to both MAYDAYs, the more we wondered if there could be a possible link between these incidents.” So, Arnold adds, he called the Coast Guard in both Texas and New York.
A $3,000 reward is still being offered for information leading to the arrest of the hoax caller in New York. In that situation, the caller did not state the length of Blind Date, which led to many of us in the media trying to determine which of the three megayachts it could have been. The one pictured, a 134-footer built in 1995 by Lürssen (as Xenia), was in Florida during the alleged incident, as was the 161-footer built by Trinity Yachts. And, the 153-footer built by Heesen Yachts was located in the Med.
Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Coast Guard at (212) 668-7048 or (646) 872-5774.
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