A sailor from France got into distress off Galicia. He survived in the hull of the boat in an air pocket. Despite the rough sea, he was able to be brought to safety.
The sea rescue crew rescues a French sailor from a capsized boat.
A diver from the Spanish sea rescue service called the liberation of a 62-year-old Frenchman from the hull of his boat in the Atlantic an operation that “bordered on the impossible”.
The sailor sent out a distress signal at 8:23 p.m. late Monday evening. At that time, he was with his boat “Jeanne Solo Sailor” 22 kilometers from the Sisargas Islands in the north-western Spanish region of Galicia, as the Reuters news agency writes.
The man set sail with his 12-meter-long sailing boat on Sunday morning from Portugal’s capital Lisbon. According to Reuters, this could be seen from the tracking data.
Signs of life from the boat hull
A rescue ship with five divers and three helicopters from the Spanish Coast Guard went in search. At sunset they managed to locate the boat from the air. Using a winch, one of the divers was pulled onto the ship’s hull to look for signs of life.
The video of the rescue in the Atlantic could be a scene from an action film: In the dark, the diver landed on the capsized boat while the strong waves swept over it. The rescuer tapped the fuselage – and received an answer. The casualty reported back.
But the sea was too rough to save the boatman that evening – and the sun had already set, so visibility was limited. The sea rescuers therefore attached buoyancy balloons to the ship’s hull to prevent further sinking during the waiting period.
The driver of the boat, who was up to his knees in water, had to wait until morning to be rescued – he remained under the hull in an air pocket for 16 hours. During this time, he protected himself from possible hypothermia with a neoprene survival suit.
“Cada vida salvada es nuestra mayor recompensa”
Así fue el rescate realized ayer por Salvamento Marítimo al tripulante del velero francés JEANNE SOLO SAILOR que estaba quilla al sol a 14 millas NNW de Islas Sisargas. pic.twitter.com/gqobWTSoWc
— SALVAMENTO MARÍTIMO (@salvamentogob) August 3, 2022
The life saved as a reward
On Tuesday morning, two divers swam under the hull to free the man. He dived into the ice-cold water and swam under the boat to meet his rescuers, the member of a coast guard special operations team told Spanish media. The divers eventually pulled him out from under the boat because the sailor was having trouble making headway with the suit.
The man was brought to safety by helicopter and finally transported to a hospital for examination. He was released shortly thereafter without complaints.
The sea rescue organization, the Sociedad de Salvamento y Seguridad Marítima (Sasemar), wrote on Twitter after the successful operation: “Every life saved is our greatest reward.”