The Coast Guard successfully completed a medical evacuation mission today by picking up the captain of the 750-foot container ship Amarantha at sea and transporting him to O'ahu.

"He was in acute pain," Coast Guard Lt. Brian Murphy, a search and rescue controller, said of the ship captain. "After careful review with a flight surgeon (medical officer), we determined it wise to hoist him to medical care in Honolulu."

The rendezvous point for a Coast Guard HH-65 Dolphin helicopter from Air Station Barbers Point and the Amarantha was about 50 miles west of Kaua'i. The helicopter was at scene at 7 a.m. and the captain, complaining of abdominal pains, was hoisted aboard. He arrived at The Queen's Medical Center at 8:30 a.m.

The container ship was headed to Hawai'i from Japan.

Today's mission was the third medical evacuation from a ship in four days for Coast Guard Hawai'i personnel, according to spokeswoman Petty Officer 3rd Class Angela Henderson.