In a dramatic rescue operation, three sailors hailing from Russia and France were saved on Wednesday after their inflatable catamaran, attempting to make the voyage from Vanuatu to Australia, fell victim to a series of shark attacks, as reported by authorities.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority swiftly responded to an emergency beacon alert around 1:30 a.m. local time. Upon reaching the location, more than 800 kilometers east of the Australian coast in the Coral Sea, rescuers discovered that both hulls of the sailors’ 9-meter vessel had been severely damaged due to multiple shark attacks.

To aid in the rescue mission, the agency called upon the assistance of the Panamanian-flagged ship, the “Dugong Ace,” which successfully completed the rescue operation, bringing the two Russians and one Frenchman on board. Additionally, a rescue plane was dispatched to the scene.

Joe Zeller, the duty manager at the agency’s Canberra response center, shared, “The three males were very relieved to be rescued, and they are all in good health.”

The sailors, ranging in age from 28 to 64, are expected to arrive in the Australian city of Brisbane on Thursday.

Zeller noted that a typical journey from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu to Australia on such a vessel would usually span two to three weeks.

Aerial photographs showcased significant damage to the catamaran, with the front section of one hull entirely missing.

 

Zeller emphasized the critical role of the GPS-encoded emergency beacon, which played a pivotal role in saving the sailors’ lives by enabling rescuers to swiftly pinpoint their location and execute a well-coordinated rescue operation. He also mentioned that the motivations behind the shark attacks remained unclear.

Source: with agencies