P3 Orion News

A cruise ship crew came to the rescue of six men from a leaky Tongan fishing boat, who had not had water for three days. The Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand organized for the German cruise ship Albatros to change course at 5 a.m. Saturday, after the fishing vessel crew set off an emergency rescue beacon 400 kilometers west south west of Tonga. The ship diverted 300 kilometers to help the distressed 11.5 meter fishing vessel. RCCNZ also requested an RNZAF P3 Orion to fly from Whenuapai to the position that the beacon was transmitting from.

A containership is rerouting to assist three people aboard the battered yacht, Platino, 550 kilometers north of New Zealand, after a crewman was lost overboard and another died when hit by rigging yesterday morning. An RNZAF P3 Orion is already out searching again this morning for the man, aged in his 60s, who was swept overboard when he was likely hit by the boom in high winds, which later caused the rigging on the 20-meter yacht to collapse before midday yesterday. The body of the man who died is still on-board, as his fellow crew continue to try to secure the rigging and the mast that was drifting alongside the yacht. Rescue Coordination Centre of New Zealand watch leader David Wilson says the Airforce Orion headed out at first light…

A Scottish fishing boat skipper Angus Macleod has reported a terrifying brush with what is believed to be a rogue Russian submarine inside British waters in the North Sea. Macleod said he and his four crew were “extremely lucky” to survive the incident in which his net was dragged in front of his 62ft trawler. He has claimed that the submerged object almost pulled the boat and crew under the waves and his boat Aquarius was nearly dragged to a watery grave. “It was not a whale - we have had whales in the nets before and the net is all twisted afterwards. Experts say it was “very likely” that Russian submarines would be prowling the shores ahead of planned British war games. The Royal Navy has said there were no British or NATO submarines in the area at the time.

A solo Canadian sailor has been rescued from his sinking yacht in rough conditions 1,250 nautical miles (2,300km) north-east of Auckland - about 600nm (1,100km) south of Rarotonga - after a mercy dash by the car-carrier 'Fidelio', reports Maritime NZ. The Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) was alerted by the signal from a US-coded EPIRB distress beacon and despatched an RNZAF P3 Orion to the scene. The air found the 11m sloop (single-masted yacht) L’Antillaise, with one man from British Columbia on board…

AMSA’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) said it has suspended the search for a 75-meter fishing support vessel after consulting expert medical advice indicating that in the current weather conditions there is no prospect of survival. An emergency beacon signal was detected by AMSA early on Sunday, March 30, in the Southern Indian Ocean near Antarctica about 3,200 km southwest of Perth and 648 km north of the Antarctic mainland in the Australian Search and Rescue Region. AMSA was unable to contact the vessel, and a broadcast to shipping was issued. The broadcast to shipping remains current, AMSA said, but the nearest vessel in communication with is more than 1,800 kilometers away. Yesterday, AMSA tasked a civil jet and a RAAF P3 Orion to locate the vessel.

According to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), five aircraft have spotted “multiple objects of various colors” during Friday’s search for the missing Malaysian Airlines flight MH370. Authorities will assess the photographic imagery of the objects overnight. This comes after international air crash investigators in Malaysia provided a credible lead to AMSA, causing Friday’s search area to be shifted north on the advice of the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB). AMSA said today’s search activities concluded with a total of 256,000 square kilometers searched.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) reported that the search for signs of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 aircraft in the Australian search and rescue region has resumed following a day of suspension due to poor weather. Today’s operations commenced with a total of six countries now assisting in the operation: Australia, New Zealand, the United States, Japan, China and the Republic of Korea. Assisting the naval portion of the search effort, HMAS Success and China’s polar supply ship Xue Long are currently in the search area.

Grave concerns are held for the crew of the historic American 21m (70ft) schooner Nina missing en route from Opua in the Bay of Islands to Newcastle, Australia. The vessel, built in 1928, left Opua on 29 May and has not been heard from since 4 June, 2013, when the vessel was about 370 nautical miles west-north-west of Cape Reinga. Uncrowned queen of the New York Yacht Club fleet, the incomparable 58-foot staysail schooner Niña was designed by Starling Burgess and built on Buzzards Bay at Monument Beach by Reuben Bigelow in 1928. There are seven people on board, six Americans (three men aged 17, 28 and 58, and three women aged 18, 60 and 73) and a British man aged 35.

The captain and crew of a U.S.-flag merchant vessel will receive the American Merchant Marine Seamanship Trophy for their skillful action in rescuing two mariners from stormy seas. Capt. Tom McDorr and the crew of Horizon Falcon, owned by Horizon Lines, Inc., displayed superior seamanship last year when they saved the lives of two Chinese sailors whose vessel sank in the North Pacific. The Seamanship Trophy, which recognizes extraordinary seafaring skills by American mariners, will be presented during a luncheon on January 26 at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy in Kings Point, NY. On July 12, 2007, the containership Horizon Falcon was enroute from Guam to Yantian, China when it received a message from the U.S.

With 30-ft. swells in fierce seas and with 40 mile an hour winds buffeting their efforts, the M/V Horizon Falcon crew performed a rescue of two Chinese seafarers 375 miles northwest of Guam, Horizon Lines Inc. reported following a review of the Falcon's Master's Log. The rescue effort took place over a 24 hour period on July 12 and 13. The Horizon Falcon, a newly-constructed 2,824 TEU containership in the Horizon Lines fleet, responded to a request by the U.S. Coast Guard Sector Guam to divert for a distress call from a log carrier, HAI TONG No. 7. The 420-ft. Panamanian-flagged ship had 22 Chinese crewmembers on board. It sank after encountering rough seas due to a typhoon in the area.