Mark Zuckerberg is under scrutiny following reports that his yacht’s crew failed to respond to a distress call from another vessel near Alaska last week. The incident involved a small skiff running out of fuel on August 3, which issued a call for help through the U.S. Coast Guard. A nearby small cruise ship named the Wilderness Legacy ultimately provided assistance by towing the skiff to Farragut Bay in southeast Alaska, as required by maritime law.
According to maritime law expert Ian Ralby, all ships are obligated to assist in response to distress calls to save lives at sea, unless it poses a risk to the assisting ship. Despite being closer to the distressed skiff, Zuckerberg’s yacht, known as Launchpad, did not respond to the call for help. A statement from a spokesperson for Zuckerberg explained that the yacht’s crew did not hear the initial distress call, and by the time they became aware of it, another nearby ship had already intervened.
The spokesperson further clarified that the Coast Guard confirmed the skiff was not in distress, and once the crew received the distress call on a different radio channel, assistance was already being provided. Zuckerberg and his family were not present on the yacht during the incident.