Two rowers whose boat sank in the Atlantic Ocean have been found and rescued by a merchant ship and the RAF. The pair survived at sea for more than five hours by using a life raft, before being saved 800 nautical miles (1,482km) off Lands End on Thursday. The closest ship to them was diverted to their location.
The two crew members, from Denmark’s Faroe Islands, were reported to be in “good health” following the rescue, the UK’s Coastguard said. The Coastguard launched a rescue effort after receiving a distress alert from the transatlantic rowing vessel at just after 06:10 BST. The closest merchant vessel was contacted and asked to change course to the life raft – and an RAF Poseidon P8 aircraft, from RAF Lossiemouth in Moray in north-east Scotland, also headed to find them at about 11:30.
It is the first time a Poseidon P8 – a maritime patrol aircraft equipped with sensors and weapon systems for anti-submarine warfare and surveillance – has been used for search and rescue in the UK, the Coastguard said. The Poseidon P8 supported the rescue efforts by providing an overview of the rescue and communicating back to the UK.
“We are very grateful to the merchant vessel that stopped its busy schedule to rescue these survivors in very challenging weather conditions and thankful to our friends at the RAF who provided such good support for this incident,” said Rob Priestley for HM Coastguard.
RAF Wing Cdr Adam Smolak, commanding officer of 201 Squadron, said: “This operation showcases the world-leading capability of the Poseidon aircraft and coupled with the highly skilled crews, we were able to bring to bear the capability at short notice and help rescue the rowers”.
