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A French research vessel has rescued injured Indian sailor Abhilash Tomy, saying he is conscious and stable, after he was left stranded on board his damaged yacht in the remote south-west Indian Ocean.
Key points:
- Abhilash Tomy is feared to have suffered a spinal injury when he hit bad weather
- He is set to be taken to an island midway between Madagascar and Australia
- The rescue operation will take a number of days, maritime authorities say
Solo skipper Abhilash Tomy, an officer in the Indian Navy, was taking part in the around-the-world Golden Globe Race when his 10-metre vessel Thuriya struck trouble in the south-west Indian Ocean on Friday.
The mast on Tomy's yacht broke when it rolled during a storm and he is understood to have suffered a serious back injury, leaving him confined to his bunk about 1,860 nautical miles (3,400 kilometres) west of Perth.
Race organisers said a radio briefing was held between the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre on Reunion Island, a doctor located on Ile Amsterdam, and the master of the Osiris, before the French crew boarded Thuriya from Zodiac inflatable boats to administer immediate first-aid and assess Tomy's condition.
The injured sailor has been described as "conscious and talking".
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the Osiris would take him to Ile Amsterdam, about 50 nautical miles north, where he would receive further medical attention.
Ile Amsterdam, also known as Amsterdam Island, is a small French territory in the southern Indian Ocean, midway between Madagascar and Australia.
AMSA search and rescue coordinator Phil Gaden said the yacht was in a spot "almost equidistant" from any search and rescue facilities, and it was good news a vessel could arrive so quickly.
"It's one of the most remote areas on the planet," he said.
Satellite messages sent
Golden Globe Race spokesman Barry Pickthall said officials had received a satellite text message from Tomy in the early hours of Monday morning, ahead of the planned rescue.
"CAN YOU CONFIRM DATE AND TIME NOW?" the message read.
It followed another satellite text message on Sunday.
"LUGGED CANS OF ICE TEA. HAVING THAT. VOMITTING CONTINUINGLY. CHEST BURNING," he said.
In an earlier message the day before, Tomy said he had activated his EPIRB, could not walk and may need a stretcher.
Mr Lloyd said the area could be "treacherous" during poor weather conditions and was known to cause damage to vessels similar to that suffered by Tomy's yacht.
"This [French] vessel is actually purpose-built for working in the Southern Ocean and the conditions that you experience there," he said.
"The crew themselves know the territory very well and in fact we've used the same vessel on other occasions, when we've had to provide assistance to yachtsman in distress in these areas."
The Royal Australian Navy frigate, HMAS Ballarat, is on its way to the area but not expected to arrive until Wednesday.
Tomy became the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe when he achieved the feat in 2013, his website says.
He was in third place in the Golden Globe Race when the storm hit.
Topics: maritime, disasters-and-accidents, emergency-incidents, sailing, sport, perth-6000, wa, australia
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