Four sailors from the Australian yacht Tai Tam were rescued by cargo ship Sofrana Surville after their vessel struck a whale and began taking on water in the South Pacific.
Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre received an EPIRB alert at about 1 p.m. on 26 September. Tai Tam, a 51-ft yacht, was around 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island when the incident occurred.
The four sailors left the damaged yacht and transferred to an emergency raft. Conditions in the area included waves of up to about 2 m.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon was dispatched to assist the operation. After locating the survivors, the aircraft crew made radio contact with them while vessels in the surrounding area were directed toward the scene.
Sofrana Surville was the first vessel to reach the sailors and brought all four aboard at around 6 a.m. on 27 September.
The 143 m cargo ship is listed by VesselTracker under IMO 9408372. The vessel was sailing from Tauranga toward Nouméa when it became involved in the rescue.
The response was coordinated by the Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand with assistance from the New Zealand Defence Force, Australia’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre and the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Nouméa. A private sailing vessel also supported the operation.
A similar merchant-vessel-assisted rescue was reported recently after the crew of MSC Hermes III abandoned their ship following a distress alert off Vietnam.
