Four Sailors Successfully Rescued - 14 February 2008

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) coordinated the successful rescue of four New Zealand sailors approximately 250 kilometres east of Byron Bay in adverse weather conditions.

AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre – Australia dispatched two of its dedicated search and rescue Dornier aircraft to the location of the Silhouette II, a 45ft catamaran that had received a hole to its hull and was taking on water rapidly.

Both the Essendon Dornier and the Cairns Dornier, along with a Defence P3 Orion were able to provide continuous top-cover and direct the bulk carrier, Alltrans to the exact location of the sinking yacht.

All four people, who had taken to their life raft, were successfully transferred to the Alltrans, headed to Gladstone

Click here to read a detailed case study of the Silhouette II rescue