Pirie in yacht rescue

2 July 2007

On the afternoon of June 1 2007, Royal Australian Navy patrol boat, HMAS Pirie diverted from an Operation Resolute northern waters border patrol to rescue a man from his stricken yacht at sea, south-west of Darwin.

A Coastwatch Dash 8 aircraft intercepted the Mayday call from the yacht Jama, during a routine surveillance mission earlier in the day. The yacht's mast was broken and the vessel was taking on water. The Coastwatch aircraft located the yacht 216 nautical miles south-west of Darwin, offshore from Cape Londonderry and monitored the yacht until the nearest vessel could reach the scene.

Armidale Class Patrol Boat HMAS Pirie was within three hours of the stricken yacht and responded to the call to assist. Upon arrival, crew from Pirie transferred the sole yachtsman from his unseaworthy yacht to their patrol boat.

The successful search and rescue operation was coordinated by the Rescue Coordination Centre Australia. The Coastwatch aircraft and the Navy patrol boat were both temporarily released from their Border Protection Command operations to respond to the search and rescue.