Mark Zuckerberg’s US$300 million superyacht failed to help a vessel in trouble

• Mark Zuckerberg found himself in controversy after his luxury yacht didn’t respond to a help call from a small skiff in Alaska.
• While Zuckerberg and his family weren’t onboard, his yacht was the closest vessel to the SOS call.
• Instead, an expedition cruise ship came to the rescue.

Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht was caught in the headlines today after his vessel and the crew ignored calls to assist in a midnight rescue off the coast of Alaska.

Overnight on August 3, local time, the MV Wilderness Legacy, a small expedition ship, diverted to assist the stranded vessel off the coast of southeast Alaska, near Kuiu Island in the Bay of Pillars.

Zuckerberg’s US$390 million superyacht, Launchpad, and its support vessel Wingman were, in fact, closer to the SOS call, ship tracking data appeared to show.

Two women, a young child and a dog had reportedly put out a request for assistance at around 9:30 pm after their small boat ran out of fuel near Point Highland. The 21-foot Hewescraft vessel hailed the US Coast Guard, which “determined they were not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on their behalf”, officials said in a statement to Halifax Shipping News.

The MV Wilderness Legacy, which accommodates 86-passengers and is operated by UnCruise Adventures, turned around and located the vessel just before 11 pm, giving the group fuel and helping them find anchorage for the night.

The MV Wilderness Legacy towed the small ship safely into Farragut Bay, where it could receive further assistance.

“The Wilderness Legacy towed the vessel to Farragut Bay, and the 21-foot vessel was reported to be safely anchored in the bay at approximately 12.50 am on August 4,” the USCG said.

At the time, the expedition vessel was on a seven-night voyage that departed from the Alaskan capital of Juneau on August 1.

Michael Love, a passenger onboard the MV Wilderness Legacy, wrote in viral August 5 post on the social media app BlueSky, “I’m on a small-ship Alaska cruise with my son; our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht — which was closer — and they repeatedly refused to respond.”

“There was near-unanimous booing when the captain announced this.”

This has led to critics worldwide pointing the finger at Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan for not answering the call.

A spokesperson for the couple told Forbes that the crew on Launchpad were using a different radio channel and didn’t receive the distress call until The Wildness Legacy was already on the case.

The spokesperson also said that Zuckerberg and his family were not on the yacht at the time that the call was sent out and that the family was glad that everyone was safe.  

International maritime law, including the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) treaty and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), generally requires the master of a vessel at sea to help persons in distress when informed of their need.

However, the USCG can issue a marine assistance request broadcast (MARB) asking nearby boaters to provide non-emergency assistance, such as when a vessel has run out of fuel or suffered engine failure, and there is no immediate danger to life. 

While there is no evidence that anyone onboard or associated with the luxury yacht knew about the help call, the incident attracted controversy purely due to the proximity of the yacht to the small boat that sent out the call. 

The SOLAS Convention

The SOLAS Convention, along with legislation from the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and the SAR Convention set out various rules and regulations for ships that are responding to emergency calls. However, the SOLAS is generally the dominant and relevant authority.

For example, that ship masters must proceed to the site of the incident at full speed, alert relevant authorities at parties that is en-route and can only refuse to answer the call if their own ship would be in danger by attempting to aid the other vessel.

The language used in the SOLAS is that “proceed with all speed to the assistance of persons in distress”, which is known as the obligation to assist.

It also mandates that passenger and cargo ships have specified safety equipment that will help them in the event of needing to rescue another ship in distress. It also lays out guidelines for specific crew training for these situations.

As mentioned above, this particular call wasn’t considered a distress call, as there was not an immediate danger, the ship simply ran out of fuel. Other incidences such as fires, rough sea conditions, a sinking or run aground ship, criminal activity or more would constitute a situation of distress.