Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after the inflatable catamaran they were sailing from Vanuatu to Australia was attacked by sharks, Australian authorities said.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said that when the rescue team arrived at the scene, more than 800 kilometers (500 miles) east of the Australian coast in the Coral Sea, they discovered that the two 9-meter boats ( 30 ft) ) the floats had been damaged after “several shark attacks”.
The Australian salvage agency had the help of the Panama-flagged Dugong Ace, which was transporting vehicles and managed to complete the rescue and transfer the two Russian citizens and one Frenchman on board.
An Australian rescue plane also went to the scene.
“All three men are fine,” said Joe Zeller, director of service at AMSA’s Canberra headquarters.
The recreational boaters, aged between 28 and 64, will arrive in the Australian city of Brisbane on Thursday.
Zeller also said that a trip from Vanuatu, a Pacific island state, to Australia on such a ship would normally take two to three weeks.
Aerial photographs showed extensive damage to the catamaran, with the bow section of one of the floats completely destroyed.
The same Australian official said the GPS-encoded emergency beacon saved the men’s lives, allowing rescuers to quickly locate the position.
Source: TSF
