Four sailors rescued after 18 hours at sea as Whale-struck Yacht sinks

Four sailors were rescued from the remote South Pacific, after surviving an overnight ordeal on a sinking yacht which had been severely damaged by a sperm whale on Saturday.

The crew members were approximately 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island, when the 52ft (16 metres) yacht "Tai Tam" suffered significant damage as a result of being struck by a sperm whale. The impact of the collision with the steering system of the vessel cracked the hull and water rapidly flooded the vessel.

The sailors attempted to repair the damage and save the vessel. They employed several methods including bailing out excess water from inside the vessel and keeping the engines operational.

In addition to these actions, they also applied an expansion foam product to help slow down the rate at which water continued to flood the vessel. One sailor even entered the water to assess the extent of the damage under the vessel.

Approximately 30 minutes after the initial collision, the sailors activated their Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and sent out a Mayday call. This action proved to be pivotal in ensuring that assistance was able to reach the stricken sailors.

Following receipt of reports regarding the distress situation, a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon aircraft was dispatched to locate the position of the stricken sailors and attempt to make contact through radio communications.

Several vessels in close proximity to the reported location of the distressed sailors were redirected towards the position of the sailors.

Eventually, just prior to midnight on Sunday evening, the sailors abandoned their sinking yacht, "Tai Tam", and climbed into a nearby life raft. Their abandoned yacht was still tethered to them. As daylight broke on Sunday morning, the sailors remained clinging to each other's hope for survival for another few hours.

Approximately two hours later, fearing that their abandoned vessel may cause additional drag on the life raft and potentially cause it to sink as well, they severed the rope connecting their life raft to their sinking yacht. Their abandoned vessel subsequently sank into the sea shortly thereafter.

Finally, at approximately 06:00 hours on Monday morning, assistance arrived in the form of the 143 metre (469 feet) long container ship, MV Sofrana Surville. All four sailors aboard the life raft were taken aboard safely, approximately 18 hours after their original encounter with the sperm whale.

Fortunately for those involved in this incident no one lost their lives, nor were there any serious injuries sustained.