Four sailors are safe after the yacht they were crewing struck a whale in open water north of Norfolk Island and began taking on water, forcing them into a life raft for 17 hours before a passing cargo ship spotted them at dawn.
The Australian-flagged yacht Tai Tam was about 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island, in open Pacific water between Australia and New Zealand, when it hit the animal on Sept. 26. Terry Hetherington, a New Zealand crew member from Wānaka, told 1News he heard "a very, very loud bang" and ran for the wheel, but "there was no movement." Fellow sailor Jemma Cooper described "this wrenching sound, and then no control whatsoever at the helm, completely locked off."
With the hull flooding, the four aboard — two Australians, Hetherington and a French sailor — triggered their emergency beacon and abandoned ship for a life raft. Maritime New Zealand's rescue centre picked up the distress signal and sent a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon patrol plane to locate them and relay their position to merchant ships in the area.
It was a massive relief, stepping on board the container ship.
— Terry Hetherington, Tai Tam crew member
Seventeen hours after the collision, the Malta-flagged container ship Sofrana Surville reached the life raft and brought all four sailors aboard, according to gCaptain, which covers commercial shipping. None of the sailors was seriously injured. Jeremy Cooper, also part of the crew, said the damage made the situation "unrecoverable" almost immediately.
Collisions between yachts and whales are uncommon but not unheard of on long ocean passages — sperm and other large whales sometimes rest or feed near the surface, where they are difficult for sailors to spot, particularly at night or in swell. Maritime New Zealand said the crew's preparation likely saved their lives: their beacon, raft and radio all worked as intended.
Hetherington, reflecting on the timing, noted that conditions could have been far worse had the strike happened a day earlier, when seas in the area were rougher. The Tai Tam itself was left adrift and is presumed lost. Maritime authorities in the region have not announced any change to shipping advisories, but the rescue has renewed attention on how little warning yacht crews get before a whale strike — and how much the outcome depends on gear that is tested only in an emergency.
