US Coast Guard searches for sailors, not looking at foul play

(NewsNation) — The U.S. Coast guard and Mexican Navy are “aggressively” searching for three missing American sailors. The search coordinator says the U.S. is not looking into foul play in this case at the time.

“The level of aggressiveness that we’re pursuing in this search is at our highest level. We assessed it as a potential distress and we are providing fixed wing aircraft as well as Coast Guard cutters to assist the Mexican Navy who also is aggressively searching to the maximum extent possible,” Greg Higgins, search mission coordinator of the U.S. Coast Guard said.

Higgins joined “NewsNation Prime” to discuss what is known about the sailors’ path of travel and the weather conditions at the time.

“The sailing vessel ocean bound left Mazatlan, Mexico on the fourth of April with an intended stop in Cabo San Lucas, and then intended to continue up the coast to San Diego. We looked at the weather conditions at that time, approximately the sixth of April, and they were significant off the Baja peninsula, off the ocean of Cabo San Lucas, significant winds and significant waves if they were to have continued on,” Higgins said.

The three sailors Kerry O’Brien, Frank O’Brien and William Gross were aboard a 44-foot La Fitte sailboat named Ocean Bound. They were last heard from on April 4, near Mazatlan, Mexico.

The three Americans are all experienced sailors, according to a joint statement from their families.

“Bill has over 50 years of sailing experience and is an extremely talented coastal cruiser. Kerry and Frank have 20 years sailing together and both hold captains licenses with the US Coast Guard,” according to the statement. “The sailing community has hundreds of additional vessels looking for our family members.”

Watch Higgins’ full interview in the player above.