{"id":37688,"date":"2026-08-11T02:09:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37688"},"modified":"2026-08-11T02:09:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-10T21:09:32","slug":"mark-zuckerbergs-mega-yacht-did-not-respond-to-call-for-help-from-small-boat-in-alaska","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=37688","title":{"rendered":"Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s mega-yacht did not respond to call for help from small boat in Alaska"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p id=\"anchor-270858\" class=\"body-graf\">Meta billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is the owner of a two-year-old mega-yacht called Launchpad that is 387-feet-long, has a steel hull, and four engines capable of generating 5,846 horsepower apiece.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-c3b01b\" class=\"body-graf\">But when a small skiff was in trouble off the coast of Alaska last week in the same waters as Zuckerberg\u2019s vessel, it was a 42-year-old tour boat called Wilderness Legacy that steamed to the rescue, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"styles_inlineImage__FvnTh styles_medium__MEKii\" id=\"anchor-a90880\"><picture class=\"styles_image__i32F7\" data-testid=\"picture\" data-flavor=\"fit\" data-original-height=\"1667\" data-original-width=\"2500\"><source media=\"(min-width: 1000px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2025-07\/250730-zuckerberg-ch-0927-b1847e.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-560w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2025-07\/250730-zuckerberg-ch-0927-b1847e.jpg 1x\"\/><source media=\"(min-width: 320px)\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_avif,q_auto:eco,dpr_2\/rockcms\/2025-07\/250730-zuckerberg-ch-0927-b1847e.jpg 2x, https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2025-07\/250730-zuckerberg-ch-0927-b1847e.jpg 1x\"\/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_fit-760w,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2025-07\/250730-zuckerberg-ch-0927-b1847e.jpg\" alt=\"Mark Zuckerberg.\" height=\"1667\" width=\"2500\"\/><\/picture><figcaption class=\"caption styles_caption__TCewG\" data-testid=\"caption\"><span class=\"caption__container\" data-testid=\"caption__container\">Mark Zuckerberg in Washington, D.C. in 2024.<\/span><span class=\"caption__source\" data-testid=\"caption__source\">Matt McClain \/ The Washington Post via Getty Images file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p id=\"anchor-f60dcb\" class=\"body-graf\">And when the captain of the tour boat announced Zuckerberg\u2019s cutting-edge cruiser, which cost between $300 and $390 million to construct, had been closer to the stricken skiff and hadn\u2019t answered the radio call for help \u201cthere was near unanimous booing,\u201d passenger Michael Love <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/elkmovie.bsky.social\" target=\"_blank\">posted on Bluesky<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-1f0f0d\" class=\"body-graf\">The U.S. Coast Guard got a call for help just after 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 3 after a 21-foot skiff ran out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau, the USCG said in a statement to the <a href=\"https:\/\/alaskabeacon.com\/briefs\/cruise-ship-helps-stranded-skiff-and-crew-in-southeast-alaska-as-zuckerberg-yacht-stands-by\/\" target=\"_blank\">Alaska Beacon.<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d29232\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cAt approximately 9:56 p.m., the Coast Guard determined they were not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on their behalf,\u201d the statement said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-7c3798\" class=\"body-graf\">The Wilderness Legacy, which was completed in 1984 and is a replica of turn-of-the-century coastal steamers complete with Victorian-style wood cabinetry, was the first to respond. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-8edfe7\" class=\"body-graf\">It scooted around the Launchpad and towed the stranded skiff back to the safety of Farragut Bay, the news outlet reported. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-a35c1c\" class=\"body-graf\">The local story went viral after Love, a software developer from New York City, posted about the incident on Bluesky.<\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-bd7568\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cI\u2019m on a small-ship Alaska cruise with my son; our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s yacht \u2014 which was closer \u2014 and they repeatedly refused to respond,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/did:plc:v2k6ce7drw7lycs3tlvcn7ui\/post\/3mscqsxfulk26\" target=\"_blank\">he wrote<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-d0c4e6\" class=\"body-graf\">Zuckerberg spokesperson Brian Baker said the skiff was already in the process of being rescued when the Launchpad crew learned it was in trouble. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3958e7\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cAs the Coast Guard noted, the boat was not in distress, and by the time the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, the assist was already underway,\u201d Baker said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-ed1833\" class=\"body-graf\">\u201cWe\u2019re grateful all parties are safe,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-9afb5f\" class=\"body-graf\">Baker added that neither Zuckerberg nor his family were aboard the Launchpad at the time. <\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-127acd\" class=\"body-graf\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shipfinex.com\/blog\/solas\" target=\"_blank\">International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea<\/a> or SOLAS, which is an international treaty that was first adopted in 1914 in response to the Titanic disaster, lays out what\u2019s been called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shipfinex.com\/blog\/solas\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cone of the oldest duties in maritime law.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"anchor-3492ba\" class=\"endmark body-graf\">\u201cThe master of a ship at sea, on receiving a signal from any source that a ship or aircraft or survival craft thereof is in distress, is bound to proceed with all speed to the assistance of the persons in distress informing them if possible that he is doing so,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/cil.nus.edu.sg\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/1974-SOLAS.pdf\" target=\"_blank\">it says<\/a>. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Meta billionaire Mark Zuckerberg is the owner of a two-year-old mega-yacht called Launchpad that is 387-feet-long, has a steel hull, and four engines capable of generating 5,846 horsepower apiece. But when a small skiff was in trouble off the coast of Alaska last week in the same waters as Zuckerberg\u2019s vessel, it was a 42-year-old&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37689,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/media-cldnry.s-nbcnews.com\/image\/upload\/t_nbcnews-fp-1200-630,f_auto,q_auto:best\/rockcms\/2026-08\/260810-zuckerberg-rs-ccaa6f.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pics-news"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=37688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/37689"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=37688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=37688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=37688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}