Three South African nationals have been rescued from their stricken yacht in the southern Indian Ocean by the Royal Australian Navy.
AMSA’s Joint Rescue Coordination Centre (JRCC) in Canberra detected a distress beacon registered to a 13 metre yacht around 7 pm AEDT on Thursday, 17 March.
The crew had reported to their shore contact that they had been demasted and were now unable to be contacted on their satellite phone or HF radio.
Given the yacht’s remote location, AMSA engaged the Royal Australian Navy for assistance in rescuing the crew, and also tasked a search and rescue jet to their location, establishing VHF radio communication with the crew.
In a second sortie on Friday afternoon, the jet successfully dropped a satellite telephone, marine VHF and aviation VHF to the crew.
AMSA maintained regular satellite calls with the crew until the arrival of the Navy.
An HMAS helicopter successfully winched all three crew members to safety and they are reported to be in good health.
The rescue was the second major yacht rescue coordinated by AMSA in as many weeks, following the rescue of two internationals on 8 March in high seas.