Footage has emerged of the moment three men were rescued from a yacht caught in wild conditions in the Bass Strait overnight.
The 10m yacht was taking water as it battled large surf and high winds more than a kilometre off Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula before Water Police pulled the men from the boat at about 3am.
Victoria Police said on Wednesday the yacht, which was immobilised, made a distress call about 10.15pm on Tuesday after the skipper lost control and was blown into the Strait.
Footage taken by a helicopter shows the men huddled inside the yacht, which collided with a commercial carrier just after 1.30am.
Separate vision shows the men scrambling onto a water police vessel.
“Due to the conditions, the helicopter was not able to winch the trio during the night; however, they remained on scene in an aerial position to assist with monitoring the incident,” police said.
“The disabled yacht, which was involved in a collision with a carrier ship just after 1.30am, was guided by a commercial bulk carrier ship who was tasked to assist in providing cover until water police units made it to the scene,” they said.
No one was injured and there was no damage to the vessels, police said, while the three men – in their 60s and 70s – were assessed by paramedics at Queenscliff Marina.
The Bass Strait, a 500km body of water separating Tasmania from Victoria, is described by the Bureau of Meteorology as a “notorious” stretch of sea where “extreme wave heights occur often”.
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Source: News.com
