Good samaritan vessel saves 21 from burning boat

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - 21 passengers are safe after being saved from their burning boat early this morning.

At 2 a.m., the Joint Rescue Coordination Center received a distress call from a 140-foot fishing vessel, named Betty C.

The JRCC broadcasted this alert to other boaters and around 9:30 a.m. another fishing vessel, the Cape Ferrat, arrived on scene about 230 miles south of Jarvis Island.

All 21 passengers of the Betty C. were adrift on a small skiff after abandoning ship. The cause of the fire is still unknown; no injuries were reported.

The rescued passengers will be transferred to American Samoa.