A cruise ship rescued a man on a raft off the coast of Tasmania. The MV Morion is being recognized for its efforts.
Alain Delord, 63, was attempting to travel around the world on his yacht when he encountered bad weather which broke the mast of the boat. The boat later sank. He then spent three days under threatening conditions on a tiny raft.
The 100-passenger MV Orion got word of Delord from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority and changed its course on an 18-day trip to Antarctica to stop and save him, even though they were 680 miles away. The AMSA alerted the Orion of Delord's condition. It took the ship 53 hours to reach him.
Captain Mike Taylor told ABC about the rescue.
"We had a two man crew in the Zodiac [raft] and dropped it down onto the crest of a wave, they went down and dropped the hook and away they went," Taylor said.
They then "grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him from the raft into the boat... we then had a pulley-block and rig, they passed the line down, hooked it onto his survival suit, and basically hauled him up the ladder and in through the door."
The crew helped bring him on board and he was alert and seemed to be in good shape despite facing high winds and waves while floating for three days.
"He is currently receiving medical attention and early indications are that he is healthy," the Australian Maritime Safety Authority said, according to the Daily Mail. "Weather conditions were better than expected and there was plenty of light in the area."
Captain Mike Taylor of the Orion had to turn off the ship's stabilizers to perform the rescue. He alerted passengers to lie in their bed to deal with the rocking, but many came out to watch the rescue and cheered when Delord was brought on board.
Once on the ship, Delord enjoyed a glass of red wine and said a toast and thanked the crew for rescuing him. Catering manager Ian Vella noted that Delord checked out to be fine and he had a great attitude.
"He is very tired and being attended to by the ship's doctor. He is very hungry so he is going to have something to eat and a glass of red wine for his dinner.," Vella told the Daily Mail.
"I think you would all agree what a fantastic effort everyone involved made. It went ahead like clockwork, a wonderful job. Alain is aboard and we are under way. All's well that ends well," Vella continued.
Delord is an experienced boater and he was at sea since October. He was likely following the route of the Vendee Globe round-the-world ocean race as an unregistered competitor.
The experienced yachtsman has been at sea since October last year and was reportedly following the route of the Vendee Globe round-the-world ocean race.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
