A US woman was rescued off the Japanese coast Saturday after she sent a distress signal during a solo attempt to row across the Pacific, Kyodo quoted the Japan Coast Guard as saying.

Sonya Baumstein, 30, on June 7 left Choshi port in Chiba Prefecture, east of Tokyo, and sent the signal due to expected bad weather at around 2:20 p.m. Saturday about 250 kilometers off Iwaki, Fukushima Prefecture, according to the coast guard.

Her website says she planned to head for San Francisco without stopping at a port.