Zuckerberg Yacht Crew Didn't Respond to Fuelless Skiff Due to Undetected Radio Call

A spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg said the crew of a yacht owned by the Meta CEO didn't respond to a call for help from a skiff that ran out of fuel because it did not hear their radio call and by the time it did, another nearby ship had already rendered assistance. The skiff ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska. [...] The Coast Guard said the 21ft Hewescraft vessel first hailed it for assistance at approximately 9.32pm, using a radio frequency all boats are expected to monitor. About 25 minutes later, the Coast Guard determined the vessel was not in distress and issued an assistance request. [...] A maritime law expert said on Monday the crew may not have been obligated to after the Coast Guard determined the boat wasn't in distress. [...] "It’s the difference between calling AAA and 911. [...] Both concerning, both needing assistance, but the legal obligations to respond are very different." [...] Retired Coast Guard Captain Aaron C Davenport [...] said running out of gas simply isn't considered an emergency, and the Launchpad wasn't obligated to help. [...] The fact that this cruise ship responded saved the Coast Guard a trip. [...] 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 5 Aug. [...] The Coast Guard said in a statement that they determined within half an hour of when the skiff radioed in that the small ship wasn't in distress. [...] Mr Ralby said it's a little unusual that the Launchpad crew missed the call for help because it is common practice for ships to always be monitoring channel 16 on their radios [...] "The situation was resolved without any harm to life," said Mr Ralby [...] "It does not seem that there was any immediate issue in terms of threat to life of mariners or concerns for the marine environment [...]".