A recreational sailor in danger of being lost at sea near Australia has been rescued by a dry bulker.
Late on Friday 07 July 2023, an emergency beacon signal from a solo recreational sailor aboard sailing vessel in the Great Australian Bight was received by the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.
The beacon’s position was about 630km west of Kangaroo Island, South Australia, and 740km south east of Esperance, Western Australia, AMSA reports. The Authority despatched its Challenger rescue aircraft and subsequently directed two merchant ships to the location of the distressed mariner.
Bulk carrier Theodore Jr was directed to the area and was expected to arrive by late on Saturday 08 July. The bulker HSL Mexico was also making its way to the location.
“Ship’s Masters will need to assess their ability to safely conduct a rescue in extremely rough weather conditions. Weather conditions in the area are severe with winds estimated at 100-110 km/h and seas reported to be 6m,” AMSA warned.
At approximately 4:30pm on 08 July, the sailor was taken aboard the Theodore Jr after the ship made several rescue attempts. The mariner was later airlifted from the deck of the ship, about 70 km south-west of Point Avoid, Eyre Peninsula, South Australia, and was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital for medical assessment.
In other search and rescue news, the wood-chip carrier, Southern Ace (which is operated by NYK Line), was en route to Niigata, Japan, on 05 July after departing Albany, Western Australia. The crew spotted a woman in distress on the sea surface near the Philippines at approximately 17:45. After notifying the Philippine Coast Guard, the crew rescued the woman and then transferred her to the coast guard at 21:00 on the same day.
Shipping Australia commends all persons and parties who took part in these rescues.
International law
Article 98 of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) requires all countries that have consented to be bound by UNCLOS to require ship masters to render assistance to any person found at sea “in danger of being lost” and “to proceed with all possible speed to the rescue of persons in distress” and, “after a collision, to render assistance to the other ship, its crew and its passengers”.
There are approximately 195 or so countries in the world, of which approximately 169 have ratified UNCLOS and a further 14 have signed, but not ratified.
