What is the name of the maneuver used to search for a missing crew member at sea?

• A. Williamson sweep
• B. Williamson circle
• C. Williamson drift
• D. Williamson turn

Answer: (D)

The maneuver is designed specifically for quickly returning to and searching around the last known position of a person overboard. It reverses the vessel’s course and follows a short, controlled turning pattern that brings you back toward the area where the crew member was last seen, while maintaining coverage to both sides of that track. This approach provides a rapid, efficient lead-in to the search, maximizing the chance of detecting the missing person in the immediate vicinity before widening out to other patterns. Other terms describe different search patterns, so they don’t fit as the standard MOB recovery maneuver the situation calls for.