Translated automatically by AI from the Italian original.
MAZARA DEL VALLO – A true miracle at sea unfolded off the coast of Mazara del Vallo. A 65-year-old boater was rescued yesterday evening by the Coast Guard after spending about nine hours in the water, clinging to a life jacket that prevented what seemed like an inevitable tragedy.
The wife’s alarm and the discovery of the overturned boat
The events began in the early afternoon when the man’s wife, suspicious and alarmed by her husband’s failure to return, went directly to the Port Authority. Search operations were launched immediately, with the patrol boat CP 2092 setting out to sea, accompanied by a vessel from the Lega Navale.
Shortly after the search began, the first dramatic confirmation arrived: the 65-year-old’s boat was found overturned and semi-submerged about three miles from Mazara’s port. Under the coordination of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Palermo (MRSC), rescuers expanded their search radius, scouring the surrounding waters meticulously.
The turning point in the dark: spotted two miles off the coast of Quarara
As evening darkness made the hopes of finding him alive seem almost desperate, at around 7:00 PM came the decisive breakthrough: the Coast Guard spotted the man in open water, about two miles off the coast of Quarara. The 65-year-old, exhausted and showing signs of hypothermia but still alert and conscious, was immediately brought aboard.
According to an initial reconstruction, the small boat began taking on water around 10:00 AM, sinking within moments without giving the fisherman time to send a SOS signal via radio or phone. What saved his life was his quick thinking to put on the life jacket just before ending up in the water. Once brought to port, the man was placed in the care of the 118 medical team amid the emotional embraces and applause of his family.
