An extraordinary around-the-world journey teetered on the brink of death, either by drowning or at the mercy of sharks. However, the quick deployment of an emergency beacon became the lifeline for three men who were plucked to safety from their battered inflatable catamaran, swarming with sharks. “An emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives,” proclaimed a manager from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA). The trio, consisting of two Russians and one Frenchman, had embarked on their perilous voyage from Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean last Monday, with their destination set at Cairns, Australia, roughly spanning a distance of 1,200 miles.
The adventure, hailed by an Instagram account documenting their journey, and mentioned in a NBC News report, turned treacherous as 16-inch cookie cutter sharks lunged at their catamaran’s hull on Monday, causing it to lose buoyancy. Despite the setbacks, the men pressed on, only to be attacked once more on Tuesday when a shark pierced the right hull, subsequently starting the sinking process. At 1:30am on Wednesday, Australian time, they activated their emergency beacon, leading to their dramatic rescue approximately 45 minutes later in the Coral Sea, located some 500 miles away from Cairns, as detailed in a report by the Guardian. The AMSA manager asserted that while the motivations behind the shark attacks remain unclear, there are varied reasons why sharks may target boats.
According to NBC News, Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Berezkin from Siberia spearheaded this ambitious circumnavigation, commencing in St. Petersburg in July 2021 and scheduled for completion in July 2024. Vincent Thomas Etienne provided valuable assistance during this leg of the expedition. The survivors are due to reach Brisbane on Thursday, where the Russians will confer with their head of operations to assess the feasibility of continuing the expedition, even though the 30-foot catamaran was lost. (Read more shark-related stories.)
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