The crew of a 45ft yacht were rescued yesterday evening after their boat suffered rudder damage and began taking on water
Three crewmembers were rescued by a cargo ship yesterday evening after their 45ft vessel began taking on water.
Falmouth Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) received a satellite phone call from the stricken vessel on Monday morning asking for help.
The crew then set off their emergency positioning beacon alert (EPIRB) so rescue services could locate them.
The vessel, which was 300 miles south of the Seychelles, had suffered severe damage to its main rudder and was taking on water, with the group using pumps to limit water ingress.
Three crewmembers were on board, one of whom was a British national.
Speaking yesterday, Falmouth Coastguard watch manager Martin Bidmead said that the yacht’s remote and isolated location presented a number of challenges as there were no vessels close by.
Falmouth MRCC alerted the Seychelles Coastguard and other vessels in the region to get the search and rescue operation under way and assist the crew of the yacht as quickly as possible.
After receiving the EPIRB, Falmouth MRCC asked a Maersk cargo ship, on route to Durban, South Africa, to divert to the yacht’s location.
The crew were rescued, unharmed, at 7pm UTC, but the yacht unfortunately had to be abandoned and sank.
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