DATE: Thursday, April 3, 1997               TAG: 9704030386

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY JACK DORSEY, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: PORTSMOUTH                        LENGTH:   69 lines

MERCHANT SHIP PULLS SIX FROM STRANDED SAILBOAT

Six people were pulled to safety aboard a merchant ship Wednesday morning after spending more than 24 hours stranded on a sailboat, 280 miles southeast of Cape Hatteras, N.C.

The 600-foot container ship Sea Wolf, which diverted to the scene with two other merchant vessels, brought the sailors aboard about 8:30 a.m.

All three ships answered the Coast Guard's call for help, volunteering to spend the night Tuesday in 25-foot seas and 50 mph winds in an effort to keep the sailboat in sight.

The boat, named the Alegra, is a 34-foot O-Day sloop based at Port Annapolis Marina in Maryland. It was heading from Charleston, S.C., to Annapolis when it ran into the strong northeaster that pelted New England with heavy snows and battered most of the East Coast with strong winds.

``It was a real small boat for those kinds of conditions,'' said Petty Officer Brandon Brewer, a spokesman for the 5th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Portsmouth.

``But everybody's all right now. They were all pretty seasick.''

Rescue efforts became impossible during the night Tuesday because of rough seas, Brewer said. Coast Guard C-130 Hercules planes, one of which spent eight hours overhead, coordinated the rescue.

At one point, when the Alegra lost communications, the Coast Guard successfully dropped a portable radio to the crew to allow radio transmissions to resume.

The Alegra was powerless, but did not take on water and had a functioning generator, the Coast Guard said. Its crew had life jackets, emergency strobe lights, flares and enough food and water for several days.

Nonetheless, the sailboat sent a distress signal at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday that was picked up by the Coast Guard.

The Sea Wolf managed to get a line to the bow of the Alegra about dawn Wednesday, pulled the sailboat up to its side and got those aboard onto a ladder and into a hatch in the big ship's side, Brewer said.

The Coast Guard identified those on the boat as: Alberto De Caitani Di Vihercate, of Potomac, Md., the owner/operator; Alan Pampallona, Gerolin Emmaanuelle, Gabba Matteo, Mancinelli Matteo and Spriano Simona Nicoletta Camilla. Their home addresses were not available.

The six are to remain aboard the Sea Wolf until it reaches port in Philadelphia, possibly today.

A marina operator in Annapolis said she was familiar with the boat, which left in the fall for southern waters. She said she was called recently by the owner, Alberto DeCapitani, who asked that the marina reserve a boat slip for the Alegra this spring.

``I guess I'll have to rent it out to someone else now,'' the marina operator said.

The Alegra was abandoned and left adrift.

The Coast Guard identified the other two merchant ships that responded as the container vessels Veronique and Revolere. They and the Sea Wolf changed course to respond to the emergency after being hailed on the Coast Guard's Automated Mutual-assistance Vessel Rescue System.

AMVER, as it is known, is a computer-driven system by which merchant ships volunteer to respond to emergencies at sea.

Also participating in the rescue, or planning to participate were: HH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and C-130 aircraft from Elizabeth City, N.C.; the Coast Guard cutter Tampa, based in Portsmouth; Air National Guard KC-130 tanker aircraft and H-60 helicopters from Long Island, N.Y.; an Air Force KC-130 tanker from Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.; Marine Corps KC-130s from Cherry Point, N.C. and Coast Guard C-130s from Clearwater, Fla. ILLUSTRATION: U.S. COAST GUARD photo

The sailboat Alegra with its six-person crew, was trapped in 25-foot

seas and 50 mph winds for more than 24 hours. KEYWORDS: U.S. COAST GUARD RESCUE AT SEA ACCIDENT BOAT

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