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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So the parents are irresponsible for letting her do this, yet a 17 year old can serve his or her country with parental consent at age 17. That's only a year difference. Either way, bad things can happen, but a child is going to find a way to do the things that his or her heart desires.
Thank you. Let them follow their dreams and ambitions. There is only one life you get.
Letting your 16 year old sail around the world by herself...now that's responsible parenting!
Hopefully all will turn out fine. However this type of "adventures" carry risks, .i.e. this event was a possibility. I assume that they (parents and child) took into account the risks when they decided on this trip. The down side is that now a lot of other people have to spend time and resources to help them so that their "decision" is not a tragic one.
I don't know that I understand the point of these record-breaking adventures by kids. Why would parents allow it? It's accomplishment enough to learn the skills required to perform the task. Is potential death at 16 really a good option (when there is an option)? Hopefully, she is found safe and sound. This reminds me of the girl (12-years old, I believe) whose parents allowed her to attempt a flight cross-country about 10-15 years ago. She crashed and died. What a waste. What was accomplished?
this should have been one of the bad ideas in the "bad idea jeans" commercial
First of all I hope everything is ok with this child. Secondly, to those of you who tear her down for risking her life for something she believes in, shame on you!! I'd rather die doing something I love than to be sitting behind our computers judging everyone else. Your lives will pass on and no one will ever think twice about you but this girl will be remembered.
I find this to be a very odd situation to comment on.
1. I fell horribly sorry for the parents of this girl, then on the other hand, WHAT A BUNCH OF IDIOTS! IF SHE DIES IT'S THEIR FAULT BECAUSE THEY ALLOWED FOR THIS TO HAPPEN.
I am sending my 4 year old in a solo trip around the world....it's his hearts desire...can I count on you people to back me up if things don't go well
lol. I got your back
i hope and pray they find this girl safe and alive. but please what kind of parents let their 16 year do something like this alone. her parents should be investigated and face charges for neglect. she has no business out there alone.....
My prayers are with this young girl and her family and friends. I cannot even imagine the anguish that her loved ones must feel and I hope and pray that the girl is ok.
I too couldn't believe it when I first heard she was going to do this. I think she was too young to try this on her own...no matter how experienced she is. However, none of that matters now...we just need her safe return.
I gotta say, what parents in their right mind would allow their 16 year old daughter to travel alone in a little boat in the ocean? Idiots.
People be quiet. Quit playing the blame game and hope she is found. No matter what she still is someone's daughter. They don't need to hear this now. They are already thinking this and are already blaming themselves. Good for her to go out and do something she loves. If she is lost then I would rather die doing something I loved and believed in. I teach and will continue to show my kids to do what they love and it doesn't matter what people say, as long as they know their family is behind them, and they feel good about their decision. This family trusted her and belived she could do it. If they didn't she wouldn't be out there. She was smart and I hope they find her.
Even from a Christian perspective, I really do not understand those who believe in Prayer making a difference. If you believe that prayer can make a difference you are assuming one of the following.
1. God is an egomaniac who will only respond to an issue if he gets enough people begging
2. God is somehow all powerful, but has a limited ability to attend to everything so you need a lot of people praying to make God take notice of the situation
3. Prayer is somehow like a magic spell that act independently of God
If someone were really a Christian they would understand that God does not get involved in the day to day lives of people, he provided the world we live in and it is up to us to navigate it. God does not intervene in daily life, but is rather there in the afterlife.
The God presumed by many people here has little to do with Chrisitanity (as outlined in the Bible) and is more akin to tribal religions where people must bow down and worship so that the sun comes out tomorrow. Too many churches are selling distorted versions of Christianity.
Bob, you know squat. When you learn the 99.9999% of the knowledge that we still have left to learn as humans, then try talking like you have clue.
Bob, please don't associate yourself with the rest of us Christians, thanks
Bob, You are dead on! Finally, an intelligent, logical comment!!
While I agree with the crux of this argument, that God is not something akin to a Santa Claus fulfilling wishes, I don't think that this is the place for it. Have some respect for the family, please.
Im sorry, but if you think its a good idea to sail the seas alone, I have NO sympathy for you. Its sad, yes its true, but she brought it upon herself.
Who is paying for this rescue effort? If my tax money is involved, as it probably is since I don't see any insurance company taking on this risk, may I then suggest a retroactive rescue effort? To rescue her idiotic teenage self from the boneheaded, should not be breeding parents who allowed her to do this. Yes I'm being insensitive, but I don't really care...my parents were responsible, I had a 9 pm curfew at 16...there was a reason for that. These idiots however feel there's nothing wrong with letting their daughter sail away on the friendly seas.