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Coast Guard Calls Off Search Off Oregon Coast Near Cannon Beach - No Missing Boat

Published 05/16/25 at 6:55 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Cannon Beach, Oregon) – U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) air and boat crews suspended a search early Friday morning for a possibly-missing vessel off the north Oregon coast in the Cannon Beach area. Reports came late on Thursday of distress flares being fired offshore, but the USCG called off the search after finding no evidence of a sinking ship or any reports of one that was missing. (Photo courtesy USCG: file photo of rescue helicopter off Cannon Beach)

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According to Petty Officer Annika Hirschler with the USCG, one person in Cannon Beach reported seeing a flare offshore around 9:30 p.m.

“The Coast Guard always responds to reports of flares, and sent out several sea vessels and one aircraft,” Hirschler told Oregon Coast Beach Connection.

Early in the search, USCG sent out a message on social describing the situation and even asking for help from the public in the search.

At one point – around midnight – searchers found what they initially thought might be debris but turned out to be only “general garbage,” the USCG said on X.

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In the meantime, Coast Guard officials thoroughly investigated regional records and found no reports of any missing boats, eventually determining there was “no reasonable evidence of a missing boat in the vicinity.”

“The US Coast Guard has suspended the search, which means it has closed the case and there was no boat in distress,” Hirschler said.


Coast Guard file photo

Deployed in the search were crews from other parts of the Oregon coast and California, including Tillamook Bay, Cape Disappointment and Astoria, and eventually joined by a group from Sacramento.

Hirschler could not speculate on if the witness saw a flare that perhaps came from somewhere else than at sea or not.

Either way, the USCG maintains you should always report a flare if you see one.

The event comes on the heels of a fishing boat on the Washington coast that sank last week, taking with it the captain of the vessel. His body has yet been found. US Coast Guard Suspends Search Along Washington Coast for Missing Man - Captain of the Captain Raleigh disappeared when the ship sank

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