Australian police claimed on Wednesday, September 6, that they rescued three men from Russia and France whose inflatable catamaran had been attacked by sharks as they were sailing from Vanuatu.
Three Sailors Rescued
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said that they reacted to a notification from an emergency beacon around 1:30 AM local time. It was discovered by rescuers 500 miles east of Australia's coast in the Coral Sea that both sides of the men's 9-meter boat had been destroyed by several shark attacks.
According to CBS News, the agency solicited the aid of a ship flying the flag of Panama, the vehicle-carrying "Dugong Ace," which successfully carried out the rescue and took the two Russians and one Frenchman onboard. There was also a rescue aircraft that came to help.
A rescue helicopter's footage shows the catamaran slowly swaying in the water as the massive Dugong Ace approaches. According to Joe Zeller, the agency's duty manager in Canberra, "The three males were very happy to be rescued and are all healthy and well."
The guys, who range in age from 28 to 64, are expected to land in Brisbane, Australia, on Thursday, September 7. Zeller estimated that it would take two to three weeks for such a ship to go from Vanuatu in the Pacific to Australia.
Photos taken from above revealed severe damage to the catamaran, with the front part of one hull gone entirely.
Zeller said that the men's lives had been saved due to the GPS-encoded emergency beacon enabling rescuers to rapidly locate them and conduct a successful rescue.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has said that this incident serves as a timely reminder to always have a distress beacon on hand while out on the ocean. "GPS-equipped EPIRBs and personal locater beacons (PLBs) can save your life in an emergency," it stated.
Shark Attacks in Australia
Shark attacks on boats may happen for a variety of causes, according to Zeller. However, it is unclear what drives these sharks.
Coral reef sharks and other top predators like tuna and marlin thrive in the Coral Sea's warm waters. The government of Australia claims that there are more sharks there "than almost any other survey site in the world."
Last month, a surfer attacked by a shark off the east coast of Australia was in serious condition. The 44-year-old man was surfing at Lighthouse Beach in Port Macquarie when a shark launched a sustained and prolonged attack, according to reports.
The surfer fought the shark for about 30 seconds before noticing how badly he was hurt and swam back to shore. Police said a witness used a tourniquet before paramedics rushed the injured surfer to Port Macquarie Hospital.
Australia had the second-highest number of reported shark attacks on humans in 2016 among all countries tracked by the Florida Museum's International Shark Attack File.
