“I’ve had 20-plus years at sea, and I’ve only experienced one other incident such as this. Cadets notified me they had sighted a small vessel in the water. We initiated protocol to investigate and realized they were signaling distress. In coordination with the Coast Guard, we brought them aboard safely and got them care.”
That’s what Captain Wade Howell, master of the Texas A&M Maritime Academy’s training ship Kennedy, said about his crew’s rescue of three people who had been adrift in the Gulf of Mexico for 15 days. The rescue has earned the captain and crew the Association for Rescue at Sea’s 2025 Amver Award.
While traveling from Texas to Florida on the training ship, cadet lookouts spotted a small vessel disabled and in distress. In coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard, professional ship crew members brought the three victims aboard. They were given medical attention, then transferred to the U.S. Coast Guard to be reunited with their families.
The rare experience happened during the academy’s annual summer sea semester aboard the 540-foot Kennedy, a key learning component for students enrolled in Texas A&M degree programs that combine academic study in marine transportation, engineering biology and science with Coast Guard License training.
The 171 student cadets onboard are applying classroom learning to real-world environments through daily training in navigation, engineering, maintenance, safety and security while attending classes. Training for marine transportation students includes standing watch to survey the waters and surrounding areas for possible dangers and abnormalities. Cadets William Flores ’24 and Kai Ethridge ’26 spotted the vessel near daybreak during their morning watch.
“Shortly after sunrise, a small black object was spotted in the distance. Maintaining a close watch, I could see the shape of a small vessel through my binoculars as we got closer,” Ethridge said. “We passed the vessel on our starboard side, and all of a sudden, three heads popped out of the small craft and started waving.”
Cadets reported the sighting to the captain, who began to work with the U.S. Coast Guard to initiate rescue protocols.
“Being a part of something like this was an amazing experience,” Flores said. “The actions of the captain and crew definitely saved the lives onboard. Everyone on the bridge has learned a lot, and now we will know what to do if we ever encounter a situation like this. Things could have gone a lot worse for all parties, but everything turned out OK in the end.”
The T/S KENNEDY has been an Amver participant since November 8, 1999.
The AFRAS Amver Award was established in 1996 and is presented to a merchant vessel that is part of the world-wide Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue System, for recognition in taking part in a heroic rescue at sea anywhere in the world.
Amver is a worldwide voluntary ship reporting system operated by the U.S. Coast Guard to promote safety of life and property at sea. Its mission is to quickly provide search and rescue authorities accurate on-demand information on the positions and characteristics of vessels near a reported distress.
