Should the Coast Guard tow?

News that the St. Maarten Coast Guard failed to respond to a pan-pan message has caused concern. When the skipper of the yacht Silver Moon was dismasted shortly after leaving the Simpson Bay Lagoon on Monday, July 12, he reportedly broadcast a pan-pan for 30-minutes. The call went unanswered. Finally, the call was acknowledged by the regional rescue center in Guadeloupe. They rebroadcast the call and asked for any vessel in the vicinity of St. Maarten to respond. The message was picked up by the Amcon Lagoon Diving Service's tug Skutter which had just dropped off a tow. The tug had the yacht in sight and assisted the vessel back to the harbor, having first removed the mast from alongside the yacht. The owner of the yacht was so angry at the lack of response by the local coast guard, that he sent an article to the St. Maarten Daily Herald seeking an explanation. The newspaper contacted the coast guard and asked for a comment and, basically, were told shit happens. My thoughts are that either no one was monitoring the VHF or the coast guard are more interested in looking for illegal activities. Should the coast guard tow boats in distress? In St. Maarten, we have the answer.