Indian sailor rescued off Australia

AN INDIAN sailor injured in a solo around-the-world race had been rescued, the Indian Navy said yesterday, after Australian authorities said a French ship was nearing his storm-damaged yacht.

The sailor, Abhilash Tomy, called for emergency assistance on Saturday after the yacht was badly damaged in a storm about 3 500km west of Australia, leaving him with severe back injuries.

“Tomy rescued safely,” the Indian Navy said on Twitter, without giving further details.

“All indications are the vessel is upright and floating high in the water, but at any moment a wave could push one of the damaged masts into the vessel and compromise its integrity,” Phil Gaden, a search-and-rescue official, told reporters in Canberra.

The mast hanging precariously over the yacht stoked fears it could become dislodged and damage the watertight body of the boat, Gaden added.

Despite the nearness of the French ship, Gaden had cautioned that rescuers might not be able to evacuate Tomy because of the damage to his yacht, in which case an Australian naval boat, positioned further away, might have to undertake the rescue.

Tomy, whose website says he became the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe in 2013, was a contestant in the gruelling 48 000km Golden Globe Race.

The yacht, Thuriya, left the town of Les Sables-d’Olonne in western France on July 1.