The three crew of a stricken inflatable catamaran who were rescued after their boat was damaged by sharks have safely landed north of Brisbane.
Russians Evgeny Kovalevsy and Stanislav Beryozkin and Frenchman Vincent Garate were sailing from Vanuatu from Cairns in the Tion when a pod of 30cm cookiecutter sharks attacked the boat yesterday morning.
The trio was rescued about 835km southeast of Cairns by a vehicle carrier Dugong Ace. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) coordinated the rescue.
The carrier ship anchored offshore of Mooloolaba, on the Sunshine Coast, on Thursday morning and the rescued sailors were transported to shore by Queensland police.
They were then being screened by the Australian Border Force. They’re believed to be planning to stay on the Sunshine Coast this evening.
The sailors were making their second attempt at an around-the-world expedition, known as Russian Ocean Way, which they were documenting online.
In an Instagram post, they said the boat was originally attacked by the small sharks on 4 September, damaging the rear left cylinder of the catamaran. After a further attack the next night, the catamaran began to sink. It was abandoned in the ocean.
Amsa responded to the Russian-registered emergency position-indicating radio beacon at 1.30am on Wednesday.
The crew have told other media they believe the small cookiecutter sharks identified them as a whale.
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The tiny sharks are known to attack boats and inanimate objects like submarines and undersea cables. Though they have taken a bite out of people, no human is known to have died as a result of a bite from a cookiecutter shark.
Amsa said the incident was a timely reminder to always carry a distress beacon while on the water.
