3 sailors rescued after their rubber boat was attacked and partially destroyed by sharks off the Australian coast

Three sailors from Russia and France were rescued on Wednesday after an inflatable boat they were trying to sail from Vanuatu to Australia was attacked by sharks, authorities said.

the The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said It responded to an emergency beacon alert at approximately 1:30 a.m. When rescuers arrived at the scene more than 500 miles east of the Australian coast in the Coral Sea, they found that the hulls of the men’s 9-metre boat had been damaged after numerous shark attacks.

The agency used the Panamanian-flagged vessel, the Dugong Ace, which managed to complete the rescue operation and take the two Russians and one Frenchman on board. A rescue plane also flew to the scene.

“The three men were very happy to be rescued, and they are all healthy and doing well,” he added. Joe Zeller saidDuty Director at the agency’s Canberra Response Centre.

snapshot screenshots With a rescue helicopter the boat is shown bobbing in the calm seas as the massive Dugong Ace approaches it.

The men, who range in age from 28 to 64, are scheduled to arrive in the Australian city of Brisbane on Thursday.

Typically, a trip from the Pacific island of Vanuatu to Australia on such a ship would take two to three weeks, Zeller said.

aerial photos It showed extensive damage to the boat, with the entire front part of one hull missing.

The GPS-equipped emergency beacon saved the men’s lives by allowing rescuers to quickly locate them and perform the appropriate rescue, Zeller said.

“This is a timely reminder to always carry your distress beacon while on the water,” said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority. “EPIRBs equipped with Global Positioning System (GPS) and Personal Locator Beacons (PLBs) can save your life in an emergency.”

Zeller said there are many reasons why a shark might attack a boat.

“But the motives of these sharks are unclear,” Zeller said.

The Coral Sea is teeming with reef sharks and other major species such as tuna and marlin.

According to the Australian government, it is home to more sharks than any other survey site in the world.

Last year, there were three men whose fishing boat sank off the coast of Louisiana Saved at the last minute by the US Coast Guard after surviving for more than a day despite being attacked by sharks.

AFP contributed to this report.