In rough seas and with them the yacht Two people were rescued in the water about 24 hours after the vessel ran aground South coast of Australiaofficials said on Tuesday.
A 48-year-old woman and a 60-year-old man were successfully transferred to the New South Wales Water Police patrol boat, Nemesis, at 7:25 a.m. local time (5:25 p.m. ET), the force said. A statement.
“They were fine at the time,” NSW Police Marine Area Command Chief Inspector Anthony Brazil told a news conference after the rescue. “But the conditions were terrible.”
He added that waves were about 20 feet high and winds were up to 60-knots.
The 62-foot “Spirit of Mateship” was suffering mechanical failure and drifting 93 miles off the coast of New South Wales when a distress beacon was activated at about 1 a.m. local time on Monday, a police statement said.
About two hours later, a rescue helicopter arrived at the scene and was able to make contact with the two crew members, but they were unable to evacuate the pair due to extreme conditions and fuel concerns, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.
The situation was so bad that the operation was suspended overnight and resumed only at first light, a police statement said.
A rescue boat then managed to reach the scene and get the pair out safely, hours later, he said, after they were “unconscious”.
After their ordeal, Brazile said the pair were “very sleepy” aboard the boat.
“They tell us they’ve checked the weather conditions, but you know, we’ve got gale force warnings,” he said.
Yacht-related accidents are not uncommon in Australia.
In April 2022, a father and his son were rescued from a yacht that crashed into a reef in Western Australia.
Then in June this year, a 65-year-old man died when his yacht capsized off Lady Elliot Island, the southernmost coral cay of the Great Barrier Reef.
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