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3 sailors rescued after sharks attack and partially destroy their inflatable boat off Australian coast

Updated on: September 6, 2023 / 8:30 PM EDT / CBS/AP

Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after the inflatable catamaran they were trying to navigate from Vanuatu to Australia came under attack from sharks, authorities said.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it responded to an alert from an emergency beacon at about 1:30 a.m. When rescuers arrived at the scene more than 500 miles east of the Australian coast in the Coral Sea, they found both hulls of the men's 9-meter boat had been damaged after several shark attacks.

The agency enlisted the help of a Panamanian-flagged ship, the vehicle-carrying "Dugong Ace," which was able to complete the rescue and take the two Russians and one Frenchman aboard. A rescue plane also flew to the scene.

"The three males were very happy to be rescued, and they're all healthy and well," said Joe Zeller , duty manager at the agency's Canberra response center.

Footage shot by a rescue helicopter shows the catamaran bobbing in calm seas as it is approached by the hulking Dugong Ace.

The men, aged between 28 and 64, are due to arrive in the Australian city of Brisbane on Thursday.

Zeller said a journey from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu to Australia on such a vessel would usually take two to three weeks.

Aerial photos showed major damage to the catamaran, with the front section of one hull completely missing.

Zeller said the GPS-encoded emergency beacon had saved the men's lives by allowing rescuers to quickly pinpoint their location and mount an appropriate rescue.

"This is a timely reminder to always carry a distress beacon while on the water," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said.  "GPS-equipped EPIRBs and personal locater beacons (PLBs) can save your life in an emergency."

Zeller said there were many reasons why a shark may attack a boat.

"However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear," Zeller said.

The Coral Sea is brimming with reef sharks and other apex species such as tuna and marlin.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks "than almost any other survey site in the world."

Last year, three men whose fishing boat sank off the Louisiana coast were rescued "in the nick of time" by the U.S. Coast Guard after surviving for more than a day despite being attacked by sharks.

AFP contributed to this report.

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Three rescued after sharks attack inflatable yacht off Australian coast

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Three sailors rescued from shark-bitten catamaran off Australia

Officials said sharks attacked the inflatable catamaran and tore off large chunks of the vessel’s hull.

Three men on board a catamaran off the northeastern coast of Australia have been rescued after sharks tore off sections from the hull of their inflatable vessel, according to officials.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the three sailors – two Russian and one French citizen – were rescued early on Wednesday.

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They were picked up by a Panama-flagged vehicle carrier – the Dugong Ace – while floating in the Coral Sea, some 835km (519 miles) southeast of Cairns in Australia.

Satellite photos and a video on the AMSA website showed a large part of the stern of the nine-metre (30-foot) yacht torn away.

“Both hulls of the vessel have been damaged following several shark attacks,” AMSA said in a statement.

The authority said the sailors, aged between 28 and 64, had planned to sail from the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu to Cairns, a distance of more than 2,000km (1,200 miles). They activated an emergency distress beacon in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

The three sailors are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, AMSA said.

“There’s many reasons why vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks are unclear,” said Joe Zeller, the acting manager of the AMSA Response Centre. The three sailors “were very happy to be rescued and they are all healthy and well and aboard the Dugong Ace,” he added.

The Coral Sea where the men were found is brimming with reef sharks.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks “than almost any other survey site in the world”.

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Sharks repeatedly attack yacht off Australian coast, forcing sailors to abandon damaged vessel

Nine-metre inflatable catamaran was part of round-the-world expedition, article bookmarked.

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Three people were rescued off the northeastern coast of Australia after multiple shark attacks inflicted damage to their catamaran.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) said on Wednesday that both the hulls of the vessel, located in the Coral Sea near Cairns , were damaged after several shark attacks.

Satellite images and a video available on the Amsa website showed a substantial portion of the yacht ’s stern being ripped apart.

“The vessel departed from Vanuatu and was bound for Cairns (Australia) when contact was established,” Amsa said in a statement.

The yacht was located about 835km (519 miles) southeast of Cairns in the Coral Sea when rescue teams responded to the emergency at about 1.30am on Wednesday.

The nine-metre inflatable catamaran called Tion was reportedly a Russian-registered vessel. The Russian Geographic Society confirmed the catamaran was part of a round-the-world expedition, according to ABC News.

Amsa said in the statement that they sought help from a Panama-flagged vehicle carrier called Dugong Ace and tasked Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft to the scene, which effectively carried out the rescue operation.

The three passengers – comprising two Russians identified as Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Beryozkin, and French citizen Vincent Thomas Garate Etienne – are scheduled to reach Brisbane on Thursday.

The spokesperson for the Russian Geographic Society said their expedition commemorated two significant milestones: the 250th anniversary of the birth of explorer Adam Johann von Kruzenstern and the bicentennial celebration of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian explorers.

It commenced its journey from St Petersburg on 1 July 2021, with the objective of setting a record for the longest cruising distance covered on a frame-inflatable sailing trimaran, according to local reports.

However, the sailors were rescued from the trimaran, named Russian Ocean Way, off the coast of Chile in March. The Tion-Russian Ocean Way is the second vessel of the expedition, and it was launched in April.

It was also punctured by sharks in Tahiti in June.

Joseph Zeller, an Amsa responder, was quoted as saying by ABC News that “the sailors were very lucky because they had an emergency distress beacon... which enabled us to tell the most appropriate and fastest response to rescue them”.

“They were very well prepared, they were calm, but of course, they were elated to be rescued.”

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Sailors plucked from shark-bitten inflatable catamaran off Australia

SYDNEY - Three men were plucked to safety on Wednesday after sharks started tearing chunks from their inflatable catamaran as they attempted to sail to Australia.

The men – two Russians and a French citizen – were picked up by a cargo ship while floating in the shark-filled Coral Sea some 800km south-east of Cairns.

“Both hulls of the vessel have been damaged following several shark attacks,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The authority said the trio had planned to sail from the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu to the city of Cairns in tropical northern Australia, a distance of more than 2,000km.

They activated an emergency distress beacon in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

Footage shot by a rescue helicopter shows the catamaran bobbing in calm seas as it is approached by the hulking Dugong Ace, a vehicle transporter that came to the sailors’ aid.

The Coral Sea is brimming with reef sharks and other apex species such as tuna and marlin.

The Russian Geographic Society said the trio were part of a round-the-world expedition which started from St Petersburg on July 1, 2021, ABC News reported.

A spokesman said the catamaran was attacked by cookiecutter sharks, a small species of the shark family that does not grow beyond 50cm.

According to ocean conservation organisation Oceana, the cookiecutter shark is a parasite. It feeds off larger animals without killing them by using its sharp teeth to latch on to the skin of an animal and scoop out the flesh or blubber to feed.

According to the Australian government, the Coral Sea is home to more sharks “than almost any other survey site in the world”. AFP

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3 people had to be rescued from their 30-foot inflatable catamaran after sharks attacked the boat, officials say

• Three people were rescued from their inflatable vessel after sharks attacked its hull, officials said.
• The trio were around 510 miles off Australia's northeastern coast, according to rescue authorities.
• When found, the 30-foot catamaran was missing large portions of its hull, rescuers reported.

Three men on board an inflatable catamaran were rescued off Australia's northeastern coast on Wednesday after their vessel was attacked several times by sharks.

The trio — two Russians and one French citizen — were about 510 miles from shore when Australian authorities picked up their distress alert in the early morning, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The Russian vessel had departed from the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu and was heading to the city of Cairns in Queensland, the AMSA said.

Both hulls of their 30-foot catamaran "have been damaged following several shark attacks," authorities added.

Officials said they asked a nearby Panama-flagged ship, the Dugong Ace, to help rescue the three people. A Challenger rescue aircraft was also sent to assist from Cairns.

When found, the catamaran had "large sections of its hull missing," AMSA Response Centre manager Joe Zeller said.

Related stories

"There's many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear," Zeller said. 

Footage shot by a Challenger rescue plane shows the state of the vessel when rescuers arrived.

—Matthew Loh (@ma2loh) September 6, 2023

The three sailors are aged between 28 and 64, in healthy condition, and on board the Dugong Ace on their way to Brisbane, Zeller said. Their full trip would likely have taken between two to three weeks, he said.

"The emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives," Zeller added. "It enabled the rescue coordination center to identify their precise location and empower the most appropriate and quickest response to rescue them."

The trio are expected to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, the AMSA said in its statement.

Sharks and orcas have been making headlines this summer amid a rising number of reports documenting attacks on vessels . But it's still unclear what causes these encounters , or if they are related at all.

Watch: Deep-sea explorers discovered creatures at the bottom of the ocean feasting on decaying whales

• Main content

See the damage caused to a catamaran after shark attacks in the Coral Sea

Three people on an inflatable catamaran were rescued in the Coral Sea, off Australia’s coast, after the vessel was damaged by "several shark attacks."

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The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) say they received a distress call from an emergency radio beacon early on Wednesday and asked for assistance from the nearby Panama-flagged vehicle carrier Dugong Ace.

Aerial footage shows the 9-metre catamaran had a large section of hull missing.

"There are many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks,” Joe Zeller from AMSA explains. "However, the motivation of these sharks is unclear."

The vessel was on a round-the-world expedition and was located some 835 kilometres from its destination in Australia.

Officials say those rescued, two Russian and one French citizen aged between 28 and 64, are healthy, well and "happy to be rescued.”

See the damage to ship in the video at the top of this article.

With files from Reuters

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3 sailors rescued from inflatable catamaran after shark attack.

Three sailors on an around-the-world journey were rescued from a sinking inflatable catamaran after it came under repeated attack by sharks more than 500 miles off the Australian coast. Sept. 6, 2023

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A school of 12-inch sharks were able to sink an inflatable 29-foot catamaran in the Coral Sea

Several small sharks about the size of a cigar are to blame for sinking a 29-foot catamaran this week sparking a dramatic night-time at-sea rescue, the vessel's survivors said.

Maritime authorities in Australia recued three sailors early Wednesday after officials said sharks attacked and sunk an inflatable catamaran in the Coral Sea.

The sailing party, two Russians and one French national, were safely pulled from the ocean while on their way to the northern Australian city of Cairnsfrom Vanuatu in the South Pacific, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority reported.

One of the rescued sailors, Russian Evgeny Kovalevsky, told The Guardian cookiecutter sharks are responsible for sinking the sailboat.

“[We were] not scared about our life. We [were] scared about the finishing of expedition,” he told the outlet, adding it was not the first time he'd come under attack by that species of shark.

Kovalevsky told the outlet he encountered them more than a decade ago in the Atlantic Ocean while, ironically, also on an inflatable vessel.

Watch the sailors get rescued after several sharks damaged their inflatable catamaran.

What is a cookiecutter shark?

The cookiecutter, according to the Shark Research Institute, measures an average of 12-19 inches in length and has thick lips and "razor sharp teeth" used to attach itself to prey leaving behind a crater-size wound.

Cookiecutter sharks generally live the oceanic ‘twilight zone ’ in depths to 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) and eat fish, squid, and crustaceans. They usually only surface from the deep at night, the research institute said.

Unlike other large sharks including great whites − known to reach lengths of 20 feet, the small cigar-shaped shark typically does not attack people in open water. However, they have been known to attack objects much larger than themselves like seals and even nuclear submarines, researchers with the institute said.

Sailors rescued after shark attack: Sailors rescued after several shark attacks damage inflatable catamaran in Coral Sea: Video

Two days of attack

In an Instagram post, the group wrote, the sharks first attacked the boat on Monday, leaving "the rear left ball" of the catamaran damaged.

"In an emergency state, the travelers lasted for about a day, they managed to travel about a hundred miles," the group wrote.

The next day, the group said, the ship was attacked again by sharks - this time causing the catamaran to lose its balance and begin to sink.

Crews said they issued an SOS and, about 45 minutes later, the catamaran was approached by a Panama-flagged passing container ship. At that point, the group reported, the captain decided to abandoned the sinking catamaran at sea.

Surfer attacked in Australia: Surfer attacked by suspected great white shark hospitalized, clinging to life

The sinking ship, a radio beacon and an at-sea rescue

An alert from a radio beacon on the catamaran led rescue crews to the vessel about 1:30 a.m. local time, maritime officials reported.

Rescue crews on a Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft , who confirmed the vessel was damaged from shark attacks, then rescued the three sailors and transported them to shore just outside Brisbane, Australia on Thursday, according to the group and maritime officials.

No injuries were reported.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @nataliealund.

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Follow our news, recent searches, three rescued from shark-bitten inflatable catamaran off australia after setting sail from vanuatu, advertisement.

The trio are unharmed, says a spokesperson for the voyage, which is aimed at promoting Russia and Siberia. 

A view shows the boat that carried three people who were rescued from the Coral Sea. (Photo: Reuters/Australian Maritime Safety Authority/Handout)

SYDNEY: Three men were plucked to safety on Wednesday (Sep 6) after sharks started tearing chunks from their inflatable catamaran as they attempted to sail to Australia from Vanuatu - a distance of more than 2,000km.

The men - two Russians and a French citizen - were picked up by a cargo ship while floating in the shark-filled Coral Sea.

"Both hulls of the vessel have been damaged following several shark attacks," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said in a statement.

The authority said the trio had planned to sail from the Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu to the city of Cairns in tropical northern Australia.

They activated an emergency distress beacon - registered to the Tion, a 9m inflatable catamaran - in the early hours of Wednesday morning.

AMSA requested the assistance of a Panama-flagged vehicle carrier, which successfully conducted the rescue. The boat was located about 800km southeast of Cairns in the Coral Sea.

Footage shot by a rescue helicopter shows the catamaran bobbing in calm seas as it is approached by the hulking Dugong Ace, a vehicle transporter that came to the sailors' aid.

The Coral Sea is brimming with reef sharks and other apex species such as tuna and marlin.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks "than almost any other survey site in the world".

The three passengers are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday, AMSA said.

The men were unharmed, said Anna Kosikhina, a spokesperson for the voyage, which she said was aimed at promoting Russia and Siberia and began two years ago.

"They were all intact. Nobody is hurt," she said.

"The only thing is that the balloons of the inflatable catamaran were blown away."

This was not the first accident on the voyage, Kosikhina said, with the steering device of a previous vessel failing during a previous leg from Chile to Easter Island.

The crew continued the expedition on an inflatable catamaran by the same manufacturer that had been stored on the island for several years.

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Sailors heading to Australia rescued after boat damaged by several shark attacks

The sailors, from France and Russia, were making a weeks-long trip from the Pacific island of Vanuatu to Australia when their floating catamaran was badly damaged in shark attacks. Rescuers say they are "happy and healthy", thanks to a specific emergency beacon.

Wednesday 6 September 2023 11:49, UK

Three sailors have been rescued from a floating catamaran left badly damaged by shark attacks more than 500 miles (804km) off the Australian coast.

Rescuers arrived at the scene in the Coral Sea after being alerted to an emergency beacon at 1.30am on Wednesday - and found major damage to the 9m (29ft) boat.

The three men - two Russians and one Frenchman aged between 28 and 64 - are "healthy and well", according to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority's (AMSA) duty manager Joe Zeller.

He said a journey covering the roughly 1,240-mile (2,000km) distance between Vanuatu and the eastern coast of Australia would normally take two to three weeks on this kind of vessel.

Photos taken from above showed significant damage to the catamaran - which has two parallel hulls linked by a platform - after several shark attacks.

The motivation for the sharks to attack is "unclear", but Mr Zeller said he was more certain for the reason behind the swift rescue.

The men had the GPS-encoded emergency beacon to thank, with rescuers able to quickly pinpoint their location.

Read more from Sky News: Woman in critical condition after shark attack at New York beach Shark attacks snorkeler in 'very scary' incident off British coast

The AMSA secured the help of a vehicle-carrying, Panamanian-flagged ship called Dugong Ace, which took the sailors on board. They are expected in Brisbane, in eastern Australia, on Thursday.

A rescue plane was also dispatched to the scene.

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Three sailors saved off australian coast after ‘several shark attacks’ left them shipwrecked.

Three sailors were saved from a sinking inflatable catamaran early Wednesday morning after “several shark attacks” left them shipwrecked off the northeastern coast of Australia.

The men — a French citizen and two from Russia — were located by rescuers after their emergency beacon sent out signals of distress at 1:30 a.m. local time, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement.

The sailors, who are between the ages of 28 and 64, departed from the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu on Tuesday last week and were headed for the northeastern Australian city of Cairns when sharks attacked their ship’s inflatable hulls.

A “large section” of the hull was missing when the 30-foot Russian-registered cataraman was finally located by emergency rescuers, AMSA duty manager Joe Zeller said.

“Both hulls of the vessel have been damaged following several shark attacks,” AMSA said.

“There’s many reasons that vessels are attacked by sharks. However, the motivations of these sharks is unclear,” Zeller said in a video shared by AMSA.

The trek from Vanuatu to Cairns, a journey of more than 1,400 miles, would typically take between two to three weeks, depending on the weather, Zeller noted.

“The three males were very happy to be rescued,” Zeller said, adding that all three were in good health following the tumultuous trip.

The sailors’ identities have not been shared by authorities. They are expected to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday morning.

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Distressed shark attack witnesses head for shore

Topic: Shark Attacks

The skipper of a cruise boat was killed while snorkelling off the Abrolhos Islands. ( ABC TV )

Witnesses traumatised by a shark attack on the skipper of their tourist boat off the Western Australian coast are making their way to shore.

Geoffrey Brazier, 26, from Perth was savaged by a six-metre shark while snorkelling with two other people at the Abrolhos Islands.

Mr Brazier was the skipper of the luxury cruise vessel Matrix, which was making its maiden voyage from Perth to Broome.

Senior Sergeant Shaun Miller says the Matrix is returning to Geraldton, where police will seek to speak further with witnesses.

"They're obviously very distressed at this particular time [but] we need to speak to them further," he said.

"There's people on the boat that we need to interview to get further information about the shark and the circumstances around Mr Brazier being taken by the shark."

The WA Fisheries Department, police and State Emergency Service officers are searching for the shark, which they intend to kill and use for forensic investigations.

Fisheries officer Rory McAuley says there are two reasons why they are hunting the shark.

"One of the reasons I believe is that they're looking for the remains of the victim, which will obviously be necessary for a coronial inquiry," Mr McAuley said.

"I guess the other main reason is to ensure that the shark poses no ongoing risk to public safety."

Sergeant Miller has urged rock lobster fishermen and their families on the islands to stay out of the water while authorities search for the shark.

"We have gone through the fisheries and people who are on the Abrolhos Islands [and] warned them in relation to a person being taken by a shark," he said.

"Obviously the message would be at this stage for all person to remain in vessels and on land and not venture into the water."

Greg Davis from the Geraldton Professional Fishermen's Association says those who live and work at the Abrolhos Islands are in shock, especially given a lot of them are surfers and scuba divers.

"It's always something that's in the back of your mind but some people have said that they won't go surfing at the Abrolhos again ... stuff like this," Mr Davis said.

"I've been going to the islands since I was born - 42 years - and it's the first time there's been a fatal shark attack as far as I'm aware in that time," he added.

However, Mr Davis says sharks are not an uncommon site in the area.

"You see a shark or two but it's par for the course because they live out there and the islands are ... not far from the edge of the shelf," he said.

"[It's] quite deep water and that's their habitat."

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