ATLANTIC ODYSSEY CHALLENGE ROWERS IN CAPSIZE DRAMA

Falmouth Coastguard are currently assisting with coordinating the rescue of one Irish and five UK nationals on board the ocean rowing boat ‘Sara G’ which capsized earlier today during their ‘Atlantic Odyssey’ challenge.

The alarm was raised when their EPIRB (Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon) was activated at 11.00 this morning to signal a distress call.  Falmouth Coastguard received the details of the beacon (including the vessel name, passage and shore contact) and informed the contact of the incident, who told Falmouth Coastguard that she had spoken to a member of the crew earlier this morning and that all had been well. 

With the last known position of the boat 520 nautical miles east of Barbados, Falmouth Coastguard contacted several coordinating authorities who may have been able to contact vessels in the area, eventually speaking to their counterparts in Fort-De-France, Martinique, who were able to contact two merchant vessels who agreed to proceed to investigate.  The crew of the vessel were 27 days into a challenge to row from Morocco to Barbados.

Meanwhile, the shore contact for the Sara G managed to get through to the crew of the boat via satellite phone and ascertained that the boat had capsized and they had abandoned to the liferaft, which was tethered to the capsized vessel.  All crew are said to be safe and well.


The Nord Taipei, a Panamanian flagged cargo ship, is en route to the vessel with an ETA of 1.00 am tomorrow (Tuesday) and a further vessel, the Naparima is also proceeding with an ETA of 4.30am.

Falmouth Coastguard Watch Manager Terry Collins said:

“The activation of a distress radio beacon always requires thorough investigation and potentially the tasking of Search and Rescue resources to people in danger at sea anywhere in the world.  In this case, the beacon associated with the ‘Sara G’ has been activated due to their vessel capsizing, and we are pleased to have been able to assist in sending resources to their rescue.”

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