Missing Mariner Off Kauaʻi Found After 6-Day Search

The US Coast Guard and partners located and rescued a missing mariner after a six-day search.

Philip Grenz, the operator of the disabled sailing vessel Epic, was found approximately 310-nautical miles southwest of Oʻahu, Friday, Sept. 10.

Grenz was last seen Saturday, Sept. 2, leaving from Kauaʻi’s Nawiliwili Harbor. However, he had not arrived at his next port of call in Haleiwa, Oʻahu.

The mariner has seen transported back to Oʻahu by the crew of the Coast Guard Cutter William Hart and is in stable condition.

“With the combined effort from our partners in this search, we were able to find Mr. Grenz and bring him back to safety,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Lucas Correia, an operations specialist for Sector Honolulu. “Every agency played a vital role in this rescue by creating a force multiplier to cover such an immense area.”

The Coast Guard’s Sector Honolulu watchstanders first received a report of Grenz at 1:25 a.m., Sept. 2. Upon notification, watchstanders issued an urgent marine information broadcast and launched Coast Guard search crews including the Auxiliary, who assisted in the search by conducting physical checks of over 20 harbors, boat ramps, and marinas throughout Oʻahu and Kauaʻi.

At 10:30 a.m., Thursday, Sept. 9, a Navy P-8 Poseidon aircrew located the missing vessel. An Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew dropped a rescue kit that contained a radio, water and food.

Watchstanders requested that the nearby oil tanker, Delta Eurydice, remain in the vicinity of the disabled vessel until the cutter Hart crew arrived on scene. Sector Honolulu watchstanders issued a Hazard to Navigation Broadcast to mariners alerting them to the disabled vessel’s location.

The cutter Hart crew arrived on scene at approximately 7:20 a.m., to take Grenz back to Oʻahu. Reported weather on scene was winds of 11 mph and seas up to five feet.

Involved in the search:

An Air Station Barbers Point C-130 Hercules aircrew
An Air Station Barbers Point HH-65 Dolphin aircrew
The Coast Guard Cutter Joseph Gerczak
District 14 Coast Guard Auxiliary
A Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon aircrew
An Air Force Boeing C-17 Globemaster III aircrew
A Coast Guard Station Honolulu 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew
A Coast Guard Station Kauai 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew
Civil Air Patrol Cessna 1A2 aircrews
Kauai County Ocean Safety
Honolulu Fire Department
Honolulu Ocean Safety
Honolulu County Sheriff’s Office