First responders aboard the Coast Guard cutter Frederick Hatch search for a missing scuba diver off Guam's coast, Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023. (Mary Sims/U.S. Coast Guard)
Numerous first responders continued to search Friday for a scuba diver who disappeared off Guam’s western coast the previous day, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The unidentified man, 35, was diving with a colleague near Rick’s Reef, where they were reportedly doing telecommunications contract work, said a Thursday report from U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia Sector Guam. The reef is between the villages of Hagatna and Tamuning.
The diver was last seen wearing a black wetsuit with orange fins, a rebreather and a spare oxygen tank, according to the Guard report. Anyone with information is asked to call Sector Guam’s Joint Rescue Sub-Center at 671-355-4824.
The colleague contacted the sub-center at 10:36 a.m. Thursday to report the man missing. The Guam Fire Department, Guam Police Department, the U.S. Navy and the Coast Guard immediately dispatched teams, vessels and aircraft to begin a search.
First responders included fire department Jet Ski operators, boat crews and divers; Navy MH-60 Knighthawk helicopters; the Coast Guard cutter Frederick Hatch; and a 45-foot medium response boat from U.S. Coast Guard Station Apra Harbor, according to the report.
The Coast Guard also issued an urgent marine information broadcast to notify mariners about the missing man.
No additional details were available Friday, Chief Warrant Officer Sara Muir, a spokeswoman for Coast Guard Sector Guam, told Stars and Stripes by email that evening.
“The Frederick Hatch crew will remain on scene through the night and we anticipate doing first light searches again [Saturday] unless he’s found,” she said.
