Three sailors were rescued Wednesday after multiple shark attacks damaged their inflatable catamaran, causing it to sink, officials revealed.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) coordinated rescue efforts for the three sailors, who hailed from France and Russia, approximately 500 miles east of the Australia coast after receiving a distress call from a Russian-registered emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB), a release from AMSA stated. The device was registered to a 9-meter (29-foot) inflatable catamaran known as Tion, the release continued.
There’s been a remarkable rescue of three sailors, after sharks attacked their catamaran causing it to sink in the middle of the Coral Sea.
The men activating an emergency beacon in the middle of the night, before nervously waiting for help to arrive.@inglis_cam #9News pic.twitter.com/pmK3cYR6T0
— 9News Queensland (@9NewsQueensland) September 6, 2023
The AMSA enlisted the help of a Panama-based vehicle carrier, Dugong Ace, to provide assistance to the sailors. Upon arriving at the scene, the rescuers found that the sailors had set off from Vanuatu and were on their way to Cairns in Australia when attacks from multiple sharks damaged both hulls of the vessel, causing it to sink into the Coral Sea, NBC News reported. (RELATED: Harrowing Video Shows Tiger Shark Slamming Into Kayak In Hawaii)
“An emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives,” Joe Zeller, a senior manager at AMSA stated, according to NBC News. Zeller added that the catamaran had “large sections of its hull missing,” per the outlet.
Crew of the Dugong Ace were able to successfully rescue all three sailors and began transporting them to Brisbane, where they are due to arrive Thursday morning, the release stated. “The three males were very happy to be rescued, and they’re all healthy and well,” Zeller stated, according to CBS News.
The AMSA added that the incident was a “timely reminder to always carry a distress beacon while on the water,” the release stated.