Two yachtsmen rescued in Southern Ocean

On the 22 January, the Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC) - Australia coordinated the successful rescue of two French yachtsmen in the Southern Ocean, 630km west of Tasmania.

French authorities contacted the RCC indicating that French yacht 'Austral,' with one man and one woman on board, had struck bad weather and had possibly capsized.

RCC tasked the AMSA dedicated Dornier search and rescue aircraft out of Essendon and a Defence P3 Orion to assist with locating the yacht. Container ship 'Maersk Decatur' was also diverted to the location of the yacht.  The P3 Orion located the vessel at last light on 22 January.

At approximately 10.00am the following day (23 January 2009), the crew of the yacht were successfully transferred to the container ship which continued to Melbourne.

To view a video of this rescue, click here.