American solo rower rescued in Pacific

Japan: A female adventurer was rescued off the Japanese Pacific coast a week into her solo attempt to row across the Pacific, the Japan Coast Guard said Sunday.

American Sonya Baumstein, 30, had left Japan`s Choshi port, east of Tokyo, on June 7 in an attempt to row across the Pacific non-stop to San Francisco.

But at around 2:20 pm (0520 GMT) Saturday she sent a distress signal to a freighter travelling nearby because of expected bad weather. 

She was located at about 250 kilometres (155 miles) off Iwaki, a city on Japan`s Pacific coast, a local coast guard official told AFP.

"She was rescued by a patrol ship of the coast guard at about 8:55 pm. She suffered no injuries," the official said.