A 21-foot skiff that ran out of fuel between Petersburg and Juneau was hauled to safety after the Coast Guard asked nearby vessels for help, but the boat that stepped in was not Mark Zuckerberg’s Launchpad. The rescue has since turned into a dispute over why the mega-yacht, which some said was closer, did not answer the call.
Passenger Michael Love, who was traveling with his son, posted about the episode on Bluesky and said there was near-unanimous booing when he told others that Zuckerberg’s yacht had been nearer and had not responded to the radio call. Love wrote that their small-ship Alaska cruise ended up rescuing a stranded vessel after the Coast Guard broadcast for help, and he said the Launchpad crew repeatedly refused to respond.
The Coast Guard got the call just after 9:30 p.m. on Aug. 3, after the skiff ran out of fuel in waters between Petersburg and Juneau. By about 9:56 p.m., it had determined the skiff was not in distress and sent out a marine assistance request broadcast. The 42-year-old tour boat Wilderness Legacy answered first, towed the skiff to Farragut Bay and moved the story from a routine marine assist into a public argument about who heard what, and when.
Brian Baker, a spokesperson for Zuckerberg, said the version circulating online left out the key point: the skiff was already being rescued when the Launchpad crew learned it needed help. Baker said the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, and by the time they saw it, the assist was already underway. He added that Zuckerberg and his family were not aboard Launchpad at the time and said, “We’re grateful all parties are safe.”
That explanation does not settle the larger question at the center of the uproar. Michael Love said Launchpad was closer and still did not answer, while Baker said the message came in on another channel after the rescue had already begun. Under The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea, the master of a ship at sea is bound to proceed with all speed to the assistance of people in distress after receiving a signal from any source, but the Coast Guard had already decided the skiff was not in distress before issuing its broadcast. What remains unresolved is not whether help arrived — it did — but whether Launchpad ever had a meaningful chance to join the response before Wilderness Legacy took over.
