Ted was pants-less and shipwrecked but the Navy rescued him 1,000km from anywhere
In the middle of the night, in the remote Indian Ocean a boat begins to sink. What follows is a remarkable tale of an unlikely sea rescue carried out by Australian authorities.
At 1,000 kilometres from land, in the remote Indian Ocean, 70-year-old Canadian sailor James Ted Rutledge found himself battling a sinking ship. Roughly south-east of Christmas Island and north of Western Australia, the French-made Lagoon 42 catamaran was taking on water through a faulty escape hatch. The sailor, who had been navigating the globe for the last 3,000 nautical miles and visited 33 countries, issued a distress call to his brother in Canada.
Unfortunately, his Emergency Position-Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) was inside the sinking vessel, prolonging his rescue. The sailor, in his dinghy, was eventually rescued by the HMAS Supply and winched to safety after 15 hours adrift at sea. The sailor expressed his gratitude towards the Australian Maritime Search and Rescue team and the Navy crew who saved his life.
Written by urgent.news from ABC News AU's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
