US Coast Guard searches for prank distress caller. Maryland.

BALTIMORE - The Coast Guard is seeking the public's help to identify an individual responsible for a false distress call July 18, 2011, near Newburg, Md. If anyone can identify the voice in the audio clip, they should contact the Coast Guard at 410-576-2630. U.S. Coast Guard audio by Coast Guard Sector Baltimore.

To listen to the distress call, go to http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1367534

The U.S. Coast Guard is hoping to get help from the public in identifying those responsible for making apparently false distress calls July 18 in the Newburg area.

Coast Guard watch standers in Baltimore received a mayday call reporting a 25-foot pleasure boat with three people aboard was taking on water in the lower Potomac River near Morgantown Point, according to a press release.

The caller said there was only one life jacket onboard and that the three passengers might have to abandon ship.

To listen to the distress call, go to http://cgvi.uscg.mil/media/main.php?g2_itemId=1367534.

The watch standers issued an emergency broadcast and launched a 25-foot response boat from the Coast Guard station in St. Inigoes, an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter from the Coast Guard air station in Atlantic City, N.J., and a Maryland State Police helicopter. They also dispatched members of the Maryland Natural Resources Police, Charles County Sheriff's Office, Charles County volunteer fire departments and Virginia Marine Police, the release states.

Upon arriving at the reported scene, responding units found no vessels or any signs of distress.

While responding to the distress call, the Dolphin helicopter crew logged about nine hours of flight time and the response boat crew was under way for about six and a half hours.

“False distress calls limit the Coast Guard's ability to respond to actual emergencies,” the release states. “They also unnecessarily endanger the lives of responders and waste thousands of taxpayer dollars annually.”

Making a false distress call is a felony and carries a maximum penalty of five to 10 years in prison, a $5,000 civil fine, a $250,000 criminal fine and reimbursement to the Coast Guard.

Public assistance in finding those who make false distress calls has led to past convictions, the release states. Anyone with information regarding the distress calls should contact the Coast Guard at 410-576-2630.

Source:   http://www.somdnews.com