11 October 2005
The crew of Janette Gay are safely off their stricken yacht and are expected be returned to New Zealand some time tomorrow.
They were taken aboard the P&O Nedlloyd container ship, Encounter at around 6.15pm tonight.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter and the Life Flight NZ Air Ambulance will fly from Wellington to the Chatham Islands tomorrow to await a suitable time and distance to rendezvous with Encounter.
The helicopter will then attempt to winch the crew aboard, fly back to the Chathams and transfer them to the aircraft for the return journey to Wellington.
RCCNZ SAR Mission Co-ordinator Geoff Lunt said there is a fantastic feeling in the RCCNZ operations room:
“It’s been a huge effort over five changes of shift and three different teams working alongside the Air Force and the merchant ships to get these guys to safety.
“We’re just so pleased that they were able to tough it out while we worked to get them home safely.”
For further information contact:
Maritime New Zealand Media Line
Phone 04 499 7318
