Zuckerberg's yacht was closest to stranded Alaska skiff — SkimNews
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- Wilderness Legacy, a small Alaska cruise ship, rescued a skiff stranded near Farragut Bay after it ran out of fuel, passing the Launchpad, turning around, and towing the boat back to safety.
- Launchpad, Mark Zuckerberg's superyacht, was confirmed by AIS tracking data reviewed by the Alaska Beacon and Halifax Shipping News to be the closest vessel to the stranded boat — but stopped near the entrance of the bay.
- Michael Love, a Wilderness Legacy passenger, posted on Bluesky that the captain announced the Launchpad "repeatedly refused to respond" to calls, which was met with booing from passengers on the cruise ship.
- The US Coast Guard told the Alaska Beacon that at approximately 9:56 p.m., it determined the boat was not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on its behalf.
- Brian Baker, spokesperson for Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan, told The Verge that Mark and his family were not on board, the boat was not in distress, and that the crew was reviewing the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel by the time the assist was already underway.
Why it matters: AIS tracking data placed Zuckerberg's Launchpad as the nearest vessel to a stranded skiff, while passengers on the actual rescue ship openly booed its perceived non-response. The spokesperson's 'different radio channel' explanation now competes directly with the on-scene captain's claim that Launchpad 'repeatedly refused to respond,' creating a public credibility gap for the Zuckerberg team.
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