Abby Sunderland is trying to sail solo around the world and had reached the halfway point Monday.
[Updated at 7:24 p.m. ET] Electronic signals from Sunderland's boat indicate it is drifting at just 1 mph, which means it still is afloat but not under sail, said Jeff Casher, an engineer on her support team.
The mast might have fallen or Sunderland could have been injured,
preventing her from sailing, he said.
[Updated at 4:20 p.m. ET] Abby Sunderland's family is scrambling to persuade any government with an aircraft in the area to help find the 16-year-old sailor, family spokesman Christian Pinkston told CNN.
The California teen's 40-foot boat was in the Indian Ocean, about 2,000 miles east of Madagascar and 2,000 miles west of Australia, when distress signals started coming from the boat Thursday morning California time, Pinkston said. No one has been able to contact Sunderland since then.
Sunderland began her journey from Marina del Rey, California, on January 23 with the goal of sailing her 40-foot boat around the world solo and without stopping. Mechanical troubles forced her to make two stops for repairs, including in Cape Town, South Africa, in early May.
Sunderland's family was told at about 5 a.m. PT about the distress signals. The family had spoken to her just one hour earlier, and although she was in rough seas, she was not in distress at that time, according to Pinkston.
The closest boat - a private fishing vessel - is 40 hours away, according to Pinkston.
The distress signals came from two manually activated distress beacons, Sunderland's family said on her blog Thursday afternoon. When they were talking with her Thursday morning, she told them she had just had a rough sailing day, with winds of up to 60 knots and seas of up to 25 feet, though the winds had subsided to about 35 knots, according to the blog.
"We are actively seeking out some sort of air rescue but this is difficult due to the remoteness of her location," the family's blog post said. "Australian Search and Rescue have arranged to have a [Qantas] Airbus fly over her location at first light (she is 11 hours later). They will not be able to help her other than to talk via marine radio if they are able to get close enough. Hopefully, they will be able to assess her situation and report back to us."
The post also said Abby "has all of the equipment on board to survive a crisis situation like this."
"She has a dry suit, survival suit, life raft, and ditch bag with emergency supplies," the family's post said. "If she can keep warm and hang on, help will be there as soon as possible."
The Australian coast guard and the Reunion Island government - a French island that is the closest land to her last position - are involved in efforts to help Sunderland, according to Peter Thomas, a freelance journalist who spoke to Sunderland's father Thursday.
[Posted at 2:09 p.m. ET] A teenage girl attempting to sail solo around the world has gone missing after sending out distress signals in the Indian Ocean, according to a CNN affiliate in her hometown.
Abby Sunderland, 16, of Thousand Oaks, California, has not been heard from since losing contact with her family during a storm Thursday, her brother told CNN affiliate KTLA in Los Angeles.
Sunderland activated her emergency beacon locating devices an hour after losing contact with her family, and a rescue effort is under way. The nearest boat is believed to be at least 40 hours away, according to KTLA.
Sunderland celebrated passing the halfway point Monday on her quest to circumnavigate the globe alone in a sailboat, according to her website. She initially planned to be the youngest to make the trip nonstop, but that was undone in early May when she stopped for repairs in South Africa.
"I've been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts," she wrote Wednesday on her blog. It took her two hours to repair a torn sail in the wind and high waves, and her internet connection on board her 40-foot boat, Wild Eyes, was failing, she wrote.
CNN's Alan Duke, Allison Blakely and Irving Last contributed to this report.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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I understand giving children room and support in fulfilling their dreams. But age appropriate is the key phrase here. Taking on driving a car is quite a bit different than sailing solo around the world. Yes, anything can happen at any time and at any place. BUT the odds of a disaster while sailing solo around the world are quite a bit higher than they are for driving to school. I hope and pray this young lady is found, safe and sound but I also hope people learn from the mistake of these parents. Smart people can learn from their mistakes. REALLY smart people can learn from the mistakes of others. Easy to see who are the smart people and who are the REALLY smart people posting here. Tell you what – ask THESE parents if they regret their decision....
As the parent of teen-agers, at 16 most of the time your kids will do what they want, regardless of what mom and dad say. The best thing these parents could have done is support their daughter and do whatever they can to help her achieve her goals. Shame on all of you who are blaming the parents. She is missing.......that is what is important.
Regardless of what mom and dad say? She didn't sneak out of the house you nitwit. She had to spend time and energy and money to organize this kind of thing and as a minor her parents can say NO. You are too young and we will not let you. And if she did it anyway they can call the Coast Guard and have her picked up. Seriously, parents need to take responsibility for their actions. This was completely preventable, at least until she was an adult. Maybe if they had stopped her this tragedy wouldn't have happened at all.
@Bob and everyone else who thinks Bob is heartless. While this is horrible and the parents are suffering, would any of you let your 16 year old sail around the world by themselves? I don't care how competent a person is at 16, any parent that would let their child go into such a dangerous situation alone is negligent and stupid. My heart goes out to those suffering but a parents job is to protect their child at all costs and to have common sense and experience where the child has none. I hope this turns out well and that she is safe. Maybe after that she can come back and ask her parents what they were thinking.
All this coming from "responsible" parents who let their children drink and smoke pot. Do you you make your child wear a helmet when riding their bike? A 14 y.o. was riding without one and died in a crash. Are these parents idiots too? This is a sailing family with tons of experience. Of course they were comfortable with their daughter sailing around the world. Do things happen even with the best planning? Absolutely! John Smith had been driving for 20+ years and wore his seat belt whenever in the car. Did that mean anything when he got slammed in to be a drunk driver? No. It's called life people. Sitting on the sidelines wishing you could make a difference and passing judgement on people out there actually doing it is irresponisible and idiotic.
Completely agree with the poster above me.
"a parents job is to protect their child at all costs " I have 2 boys and I disagree with this statement strongly. I will not be there all the time to protect my kids. My kids need to learn to understand and manage risks for themselves. That only comes from experience. Sure I manage their environment to avoid the chance of a fatal accident, but I will not attempt to bubble wrap them. My job as a parent is help them become strong and independant as early as possible. I need to let them experience life and let them learn to make decisions for themselves. I really do not know what my kids will require to live a good life, but I know that being able to make intelligent decisions and to recognise danger will help protect them. People need to be able to act in spite of fear. Even with abby's preparedness I am sure it was not an easy decision to let her go. But if that trip was important to Abby, then their responsibility was to help her prepare and let her go. BTW I trust sharks a lot more than I trust many drivers. Sharks are more predictable. Even with seatbelts and airbags letting a 16 year old in charge of 200hp down the freeway is nuts. Most cars on the road can do in excess of 100 miles per hour! You thinks kids don't try!
I think i saw her last night at WAL-MART. . .
Of course I hope she is found safe and alive, but I'm sorry – I agree w/ some of the other posters, If she is dead or never found again, it is her parents fault. I also might add that I think the parents should be brought up on child neglict charges. If she was left alone in an apartment for several months, they would go to jail. But to be on the Ocean, that's thousands of feet deep, many thousands of feet wide and no help anywhere around and that's OK ??
Bob's comments are inappropriate at this point but there is point to some of his thinking. My prayers go out to her family and friends. No matter how experienced, going alone at 16 is unwise yet brave. She is living as she wishes and a brave girl, my prayers go out to her and her family. Hopefully this will make others think about a child going it alone in future and God willing she will be found safe and sound. She is in my prayers.
Bob, you should think about how you comment considering the situation – your sensitivity is seriously lacking. I am going to think positively for this girl who accomplished so much and may be capable of surviving such dangerious seas.
@ Heather and other like her
This is what is wrong with a lot of people. They think they can controll the world, and when they can't they control their kids. People need to learn through experiences for themselves, both good and bad. Kids learn from them.
Usually people like this have no faith in the intelligence of youth. Really sad, only the kids will suffer
You job as a parent it to guide and advise them, teach them morals and values. Not keep them under lock and key so that when they get in the "real" world there is a huge shock value and a huge learning curve.
I am speaking as a father, who was not allowed to cross a road at 14 years old and moved out at 15. I have a great job, familey and a strong set of morals and values..... on my own.
You don't give your kids enough credit and you over value your worth....... poor kids.
As for Abby, I really hope to hear some good news, she had been preparing for this for many years, it was her dream.
The human spirit is stronger then any shackles.
Peace, love and understanding everyone!
Amen, Serge, Amen!
After starting from the beingof this blog and reading what people have to say about this . I cant wait til 2012 so i can get away from all the losers this planet. Let the world and put us all out of our misery.
This is the time for negative comments. Because if any of you are thinking " hey, my kid is pretty mature, responsible, skilled at sailing form her DECADES of sailing experience. Why not let her sail around the world ALONE? " we need to bring attention to foolish decisions. People forget that when we are young we actually don't think anything bad will happen. Even when aware of the risks. It's up to our parents to help us through these times. I wanted to be a professional base jumper when I was 15. My Dad... looked at me... nodded his head... then smacked me upside the head.
Good luck abby. I hope you make it home soon so that you can reply to all these heartless, lifeless tin cans who don't know how to live what life is really like. To Abby's parents, I hope everything turns out all right. Don't worry about the narrow minded people on here who can't comprehend the thought of a talented mature girl fullfililng her dreams. Let them baby their kids until they are 30 and living in their basement playing video games. You and Abby know what life is really about.
Best wishes
Russ.
Dig Russ!
Well said Russ. Thank you.
Right. And how much do you want to bet that for every second that she's not found, her parents are wishing that she were SAFE AT HOME, in their warm embrace.
After reading each and every one of these posts, I must say, I too saw this coming when I heard about her attempt on the news, a few weeks ago. I don't think that anyone posted anything about the young girl who's parents let her fly a plane solo several years ago, sadly she didn't survive. If I'm not mistaken, she was even younger than 16! I can't believe that this girl didn't have a back up ship following her just incase of a dire emergency. I have a 16 year old daughter and she is very bright, mature and extremely talented. She in the past, had wanted to do things that I felt were unsafe and I just said no way! Yes, she was upset and didn't speak to me for a few days here and there, but after she thought it out, several days later she always thanked me. As a parent you have to know just how far you can let your child experiment and that's a tough balancing act. I hope these parents have learned a valuable lesson and their daughter is arrives home safely.
Once while cave exploring in West Virginia, our group was faced with rising flood waters. Not once did I think, "If I die here, at least I'm doing something I love." The amount of equipment failure this girl experienced, almost from the outset of her journey, should have had the trip being called off. The desire to be the youngest, and the concern over that ticking clock, led to taking unnecessary risks, including the far southern route she was using.
Should the parents be "prosecuted"? NO! Are they responsible – YES! "TWO YEARS" That's what I would have told my daughter. "Wait two years until you are responsible for yourself and are two years further advanced in maturity". There were far too many egos involved in this decision and the price paid is regrettably going to be a CHILD's life!
Hope you are OK kiddo.
I have seen some stupid parents but these people and some of these posts take the cake! "She's a teen and you need to let her follow her dream", "her parents aren't responsible", "I let my kid go to the playground alone".......what tripe! These parents spent a couple hundred thousand dollars on a boat to enable their daughter to risk her life! The are enablers and should feel the pain for their actions! They are sick.
"They shouldn't want their daughter to have regrets", "If she dies it is doing what she wants".....she is 16, if she wanted to overdose on drugs or jump out of plane without a parachute is that OK as long as she dies doing what she wants, so she has no regrets?!.....That is sick, what is the matter with you people. These people could give a damn about there daughter. This is all about 15 minutes of fame! Let's hope she doesn't get it at her funeral! My God, is life that cheap!
I of course hope they find her healthy and fine, but how many hundreds of thousands of dollars will governments have to spend to save someone doing a stupid act! Her family needs to be charged for those services whether she is found alive or dead! They are a sick sad bunch! Being a parent and teaching responsibility requires you to say no and give guidance. Sometimes love is making hard choices for your children, not doing anything for fame and fortune.