Sperm whale sinks yacht in Pacific Ocean, four sailors rescued — CBS News

In the southern Pacific Ocean, a sperm whale damaged the yacht Tai Tam, forcing four sailors to abandon the vessel and move to a life raft. They were picked up by the container ship MV Sofrana Surville about 18 hours after the collision, CBS News reports.

Collision with a sperm whale

The 52-foot yacht was 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island when it was struck. Australian Gemma Cooper told AFP that after a loud impact, the vessel was thrown sideways and she was knocked away from the helm. The crew later saw six to eight sperm whales to port.

Her husband, Jeremy Cooper, who was below deck at the time of the impact, said the situation immediately appeared serious: the steering equipment on the starboard side was destroyed, and a significant amount of water was entering the yacht. Frenchman Martin Jaffre said the impact caused several breaches in the hull, cracked the fiberglass structure, and disabled the steering.

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Rescue operation

About 30 minutes after the collision, at 1:00 p.m. New Zealand time on Saturday, the crew activated the EPIRB emergency radio beacon and issued a Mayday distress call. The sailors manually bailed out water for several hours, tried to prevent the engine from becoming clogged, and used expanding foam to slow the inflow of water. Jaffre also dived beneath the yacht to inspect the damage.

Late in the evening, the sailors moved to the life raft. During the night, they cut the rope tethering the raft to the yacht, fearing that the vessel could pull them to the bottom. Tai Tam sank shortly afterward. The New Zealand Air Force dispatched a P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft to the area to establish radio contact and coordinate the rescue. The container ship rescued all four sailors at 6:00 a.m. on Sunday.