U.S. Coast Guard and Navy crews rescued 18 people from a disabled boat adrift and sinking in international waters about 50 miles southwest of San Diego over the weekend, authorities reported Monday. The 35-foot vessel was taking on water when someone aboard it issued a mayday shortly before 8 a.m . Sunday, according to USCG public affairs. Photo courtesy of the U.S. Coast Guard The Coast Guard sent an MH-60 Jayhawk helicopter to assist the stranded people, and the crew of the Navy guided-missile destroyer USS Spruance headed to the area and launched a seven-meter rigid-hull inflatable boat to assist. The personnel pulled the victims — all but one of them non-U.S. citizens — from the sea and brought them aboard the Spruance, after which the air crew took them to Coast Guard Sector San Diego headquarters on two flights. The Spruance, an Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer, departed Naval Base San Diego earlier this month to enhance the national security of the United States, according to the U.S. Navy. T The Spruance returned to Naval Base San Diego in December 2024 after a five-month deployment to the U.S. 5th and 7th Fleet areas of operation as part of the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group in the Middle East. All 18 of the rescued people were turned over to the Department of Homeland Security for documentation and processing. ...read more read less