Two people who were rescued by a container ship en route to China after ditching their small plane 535 miles northeast of Hilo on Thursday will be picked up by the Coast Guard today after all.

The Coast Guard initially said it had no plans to pick up the pair since they were rescued by a Good Samaritan ship and were not injured, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Brooksann Epicero.

But the captain of the Maltese container ship Virginius told the Coast Guard yesterday that the ship could come 12 miles off Ho-nolulu to allow the Coast Guard to pick up the stranded passengers, Epicero said. The Coast Guard is scheduled to meet the ship at about 4:45 p.m. today.

"Good Samaritan vessels can decide to do whatever they want with passengers they pick up," Epicero said. "So those people could ride all the way to China or the captain can say, 'Oh, I don't mind pulling over,' " she said.

Had the ship decided to continue to China, the pair would have had to go along.

The twin-engine Piper Seminole left Santa Barbara, Calif., Thursday en route to Hilo. It was 1,000 miles off the coast of California when the woman pilot reported engine problems but decided against turning back.

The Coast Guard set up a plan for an ocean ditching 535 miles off Hilo. The Virginius was nearby and picked up the aviators.

Reach Loren Moreno at lmoreno@honoluluadvertiser.com.