One Dead Recovered From Capsized Mariana as Search Continues for Five Missing Crew

The search for six missing mariners aboard the overturned US-flagged cargo ship Mariana took a grim turn Monday after divers recovered one deceased crew member from inside the wreck, even as U.S. and international rescue teams expanded efforts to find five others still unaccounted for in remote Pacific waters near Saipan.

According to the U.S. Coast Guard, divers from the U.S. Air Force’s 31st Rescue Squadron recovered the body at about 5:12 p.m. Hawaii time during subsurface operations on the capsized vessel. The divers conducted a comprehensive survey of the vessel’s exterior and used an underwater remotely operated drone to search the ship’s interior—marking the most intensive examination yet of the overturned cargo ship since it was located.

The 145-foot U.S.-flagged dry cargo vessel was discovered upside down Friday northeast of Pagan after drifting far from its last known position. It had first reported engine trouble Wednesday before communications were lost.

The recovery marks the first confirmed fatality in a casualty that is increasingly shifting from a rescue mission toward a likely recovery operation, though officials stressed the search for survivors continues.

At 2:17 p.m. Tuesday, the crew of the Japan Coast Guard patrol vessel Akitsushima arrived on scene alongside the Coast Guard cutter Frederick Hatch and deployed additional divers to further examine the hull. No additional crew members were found.

Coast Guard aircraft continue searching for the five missing mariners as well as an orange 12-person life raft reported missing since debris was first spotted near the casualty site. That raft remains a central focus of the surface search.

“Our hearts are with the families of the Mariana crew members and the communities impacted by this tragic incident,” Cmdr. Preston Hieb, search and rescue mission coordinator for Coast Guard Oceania District, said in a statement. “We continue to search in close coordination with our partners, using all available resources to support the ongoing response.”

The search effort has evolved into a multinational operation spanning thousands of square miles in the western Pacific, involving the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu, Coast Guard cutter Frederick Hatch, aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Barbers Point, the U.S. Air Force’s 31st Rescue Squadron, U.S. Navy Patrol Squadron 26, the Japan Coast Guard, and a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon crew.

The involvement of Japanese divers alongside U.S. rescue teams reflects both the scale and urgency of the operation as responders balance underwater inspection of the wreck with the increasingly difficult open-ocean search.

Earlier search efforts located debris and a partially inflated life raft, raising initial hopes the crew may have abandoned ship before the vessel capsized. But days into the search, no survivors have been found.

The discovery inside the wreck may sharpen questions about what caused the vessel to overturn and whether the crew had time to escape.

For now, however, the mission remains focused on finding the five missing mariners.

Anyone with information that may assist search efforts has been asked to contact the Coast Guard via VHF Channel 16 or the Joint Rescue Coordination Center Honolulu.

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