The crew of a yacht owned by Mark Zuckerberg did not hear a radio call for maritime assist from a skiff that ran out of fuel off the coast of Alaska, a spokesperson for the Meta CEO said. The yacht, named Launchpad, was closer to the skiff than another vessel that ultimately provided assistance.
The Alaska Beacon reported that the skiff issued a call for assistance through the U.S. Coast Guard last week. A nearby small cruise ship, the Wilderness Legacy, towed the skiff into Farragut Bay in Southeast Alaska and refueled it.
Michael Love, a passenger on the Wilderness Legacy, wrote on the social media platform Bluesky that his ship rescued the stranded vessel after the Coast Guard radioed Zuckerberg's yacht and it repeatedly refused to respond. Love stated that the captain of the Wilderness Legacy announced this information, leading to near-unanimous booing from passengers.
However, the spokesperson told the Alaska Beacon via email that the yacht Launchpad did not initially hear the call. Zuckerberg and his family were not aboard the yacht at the time of the incident. According to the spokesperson, the boat was not in distress. By the time the yacht's crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, assistance was already underway by the Wilderness Legacy. The spokesperson expressed gratitude that all parties were safe.