Apparent False Alarm Costly For Coast Guard

The Coast Guard said Friday that it spent more than $467,000 earlier this month searching for what was supposed to be a boat in distress. The boat wasn’t found and the report appears to have been a false alarm.

The Coast Guard got a report earlier this month that a 115-foot vessel called the Monterey was en route to Alaska when it developed mechanical trouble off the coast of Oregon.

For more than a week, the Coast Guard searched up and down the West Coast for the vessel. More than 30,000 square miles were covered with airplanes, helicopters and boats. Ports along the coast also were checked. Nothing was found.

Resources spent on false alarm searches hamper the ability of the agency to respond to those truly in need, the Coast Guard said.