A father and daughter whose sailboat was missing were rescued Thursday morning by a container ship as they reached Portugal from Brittany.
The 45-year-old French skipper and his 17-year-old daughter, who are unharmed, will be disembarked in Portugal. Their boat had dismasted, according to the same source. The crew had triggered a message requesting assistance Thursday at 7:30 am when they were 555 km off La Rochelle.
It was a merchant ship that relayed this message. The area where the boat is located is under the care of the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center in Falmouth, UK, which coordinated the rescue operation. Another vessel diverted to assist the two crew members.
The alert was given on Wednesday
Departing on August 11 from Saint-Malo, the crew had a telephone contact with members of his family on Saturday evening, August 15, while the sailboat was off the island of Batz, in Finistère. The 15.60m sailboat, “Azawakh 5”, is registered in Portsmouth, England.
After the family alert on Wednesday, a Customs plane already in flight had carried out research “to remove the uncertainty on the location of the sailboat”, without success, according to the maritime prefecture. An investigation was also conducted among the ports on the Atlantic coast to ensure that the boat was not there while the report of the sailboat was sent to all the ships at sea.
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