The U.S. Coast guard rescued three men Thursday after their 23-foot boat capsized off the South Carolina coast, the agency said.
A good Samaritan sounded the alarm to Coast Guard Sector Charleston just before 7:30 a.m. that they had spotted three men “clinging to the overturned hull” of a boat around 5 miles east of Charleston Harbor, the Coast Guard said in a news release.
Search and rescue teams were dispatched and managed to pull the three men from the water to safety.
The men were offered emergency medical care, but the Coast Guard said there were no reported medical concerns.
It was not clear what exactly caused the boat to capsize.
However, Petty Officer 2nd Class Harry Seibert, the coxswain on the case, said it was “important mariners check their vessel for all the necessary safety equipment onboard and monitor weather conditions prior to getting on the water.”
“This is a prime example of how quickly things can go wrong in a matter of seconds,” Seibert said.
The Coast Guard said the owner of the boat was coordinating with a commercial salvage company to recover the vessel.
