Mark Zuckerberg’s $300 million superyacht drew “near unanimous booing” from cruise passengers after its crew reportedly failed to help a stranded boat in Alaska.
At 9:32 p.m. on Monday, August 3, a 21-foot Hewescraft boat contacted the United States Coast Guard requesting help after running out of fuel in southeastern Alaska near Juneau, with the vessel’s occupants believed to be two women, a child, and a dog.
The Wilderness Legacy, an 88-guest expedition vessel operated by UnCruise Adventures, towed the fuel-depleted craft several miles to safety.
But the rescue drew backlash after a passenger shared what the cruise ship’s captain announced.
Michael Love, a software developer from New York City who was travelling aboard Wilderness Legacy, described the unusual episode on social media.
“Our boat rescued a stranded vessel last night, and apparently we did that after the Coast Guard radioed Mark Zuckerberg’s yacht — which was closer — and they repeatedly refused to respond,” Love posted on Bluesky.
“There was near unanimous booing when the captain announced this,” Love said in a post on Bluesky.
The Wilderness Legacy, a cruise ship operated by UnCruise Adventures, responded to an assistance call to help a small skiff that ran out of fuel between Juneau and Petersburg.
The cruise ship’s captain, Sean Manske, contacted the boaters the following day and learned that they had safely reached Petersburg, according to UnCruise.
Zuckerberg’s superyacht, the nearly 400-foot Launchpad, was even closer to the stranded vessel, the outlet reported—garnering negative attention on social media.
Vessel tracking services show the $300 million, 387-foot yacht Launchpad slowing to a halt outside Farragut Bay as the UnCruise Adventures ship Wilderness Legacy steams around and past the Launchpad, stops at the apparent site of the skiff, then tows it into sheltered Farragut Bay.
Michael Love, a New York software developer travelling on a small-ship Alaska cruise with his son, said his vessel eventually stepped in to help.
In a follow-up message, Love expressed frustration at the decision.
“Frankly, if I was Mark Zuckerberg I would be absolutely ecstatic at a chance to do something helpful for someone in need and maybe get some good PR out of it,” he said.
But Zuckerberg’s team pushed back against the narrative that his yacht deliberately refused to help.
Brian Baker told Forbes that Zuckerberg and Chan were not aboard Launchpad at the time and said its crew had been using a different radio channel.
“The assist was already under way” when the crew reviewed the broadcast, Baker said.
A spokesperson for Mark Zuckerberg emailed a statement: “Mark and his family were not on board at the time of the incident.
“As the Coast Guard noted, the boat was not in distress, and by the time the crew reviewed the Coast Guard contact on a different radio channel from the one they were operating on, the assist was already underway.
Baker also confirmed that Zuckerberg, Chan and their family were not onboard their yacht when the incident was happening, adding “we’re grateful all parties are safe.”
The spokesperson’s explanation highlighted a potential communication issue.
Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations mandate that any vessel with a radio, when not actively transmitting, must monitor channel 16 for communications from the Coast Guard, such as Monday’s call for assistance.
The small-ship cruise operator UnCruise Adventures came to the rescue of a stranded skiff in Alaska’s remote southeastern waters on the night of August 3.
The Wilderness Legacy eventually towed the skiff into the sheltered waters of Farragut Bay, where its crew was able to provide fuel.
No injuries or damage to either vessel were reported, and Wilderness Legacy was not significantly delayed on her 7-night voyage.
But observers cautioned against drawing firm conclusions from vessel tracking data alone.
John Hollingsworth, chief operations officer of the Marine Exchange of Alaska, cautioned against drawing conclusions solely from vessel-tracking information, noting that maritime situations can involve numerous circumstances that are not visible through AIS data.
He also noted that Wilderness Legacy is an UnCruise vessel with extensive experience navigating Alaska waters, which may have helped its crew respond quickly.
In the viral moment that kicked off the controversy, cruise passengers reacted with shock when Captain Manske announced that Zuckerberg’s much-larger yacht had been closer to the stranded boat but failed to respond to the call for assistance. The announcement of the yacht’s proximity and apparent refusal to help sparked immediate outrage among the approximately 88 guests aboard Wilderness Legacy. The “near unanimous booing” that erupted became a defining moment that amplified the story across social media, turning a routine maritime rescue into a PR crisis for one of the world’s richest people. Vessel tracking data corroborated Love’s account that Launchpad had been slowing or stopping near Farragut Bay during the rescue operation, even as Wilderness Legacy diverted toward the stranded skiff.
The incident was the second time in less than two weeks that a small expedition cruise ship had provided assistance to boaters in Southeast Alaska.