Mark Zuckerberg addresses claim his $300 million yacht ignored stranded cruise ship's call for help

A spokesperson for Mark Zuckerbeg has denied that the multibillionaire's yacht purposely ignored another vessel's call for help.

On August 3 it was reported that a ship in Alaska was stranded after running out of fuel.

The small skiff was between Juneau and Petersburg at the time of the incident and called the Coast Guard at approximately 9:30pm.

The Coast Guard 'determined they were not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on their behalf', Forbes reports, and Zuckerberg's $300 million yacht, The Launchpad, happened to have been close by.

He purchased the almost 400-foot long ship in 2024.

"At approximately 9:56 p.m., the Coast Guard determined they were not in distress and issued a marine assistance request broadcast on their behalf," Coast Guard Public Affairs Specialist Shannon Shepard told the Alaska Beacon.

Mark Zuckerberg's yacht is said to be worth $300 million (Sylvain Lefevre/Getty Images)

But the staff onboard Zuckerberg's yacht (which he was reportedly not on at the time) failed to respond to the call for help. Instead, the Wilderness Legacy, a cruise ship operated by UnCruise Adventures, went to the skiff's aid despite reportedly having been further away from it than The Launchpad.

Vessel tracking services showed that the Wilderness Legacy seemingly had to go around The Launchpad to get to the skiff.

Ultimately the cruise ship towed the small vessel to Farragut Bay.

Michael Love, a software developer from New York City, was a passenger on the cruise ship that helped the skiff and documented the small-scale rescue on social media.

He said that there was 'near unanimous booing' when the captain announced that the ship was going to the other vessel's aid since Zuckerberg's boat seemingly hadn't responded to the Coast Guard's assistance request.

The superyacht has been in Alaskan waters for most of the summer (Francesca Volpi/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Love added on BlueSky: "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."

A spokesperson for the tech mogul – who is said to have an net worth of over $200 billion – has now addressed the matter and denied that The Launchpad's lack of help was intentional.

They said: "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."

"We’re grateful all parties are safe," the statement concluded.

Mark Zuckerberg and his family were not onboard the yacht at the time of the ordeal (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Apparently the owner of UnCruise, Dan Blanchard, didn't initially know about the recent rescue efforts because 'this kind of aid is such a common thing that it does not always rise to my attention'.

Just two weeks before the August 3 incident, the National Geographic Quest helped a family who had to swim to shore after a whale sank their sailboat.

Now that's a good excuse for losing your homework...