The Indian Navy on Monday said Abhilash Tomy, a naval commander who was stranded in the South Indian Ocean while taking part in the Golden Globe Race, has been rescued. Tomy suffered a back injury on Friday after his yacht was demasted in a severe storm with 14-metre-high waves.
A French vessel, Osiris, rescued Tomy from his location, The Indian Express reported. Tomy will then be brought on board Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat.
“A sense of relief to know that naval officer Abhilash Tomy is rescued by the French fishing vessel,” Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tweeted. “He is conscious and doing okay. The vessel will shift him to a nearby island [Île Amsterdam] by evening. INS Satpura will take him to Mauritius for medical attention.”
Tomy’s vessel was located in the South Indian Ocean, about 1,900 nautical miles (3,518 km) from Perth in Australia. The Navy’s P8I aircraft, which flew from Mauritius early on Sunday, located the “mast broken boat rolling excessively”.
Tomy had responded by ping on Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon as the aircraft was flying over him. Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon is a device which alerts rescue services in case of an accident at sea.
Tomy, who was the first Indian to circumnavigate the globe in 2013, was the only Indian participating in the race, which involves a 30,000-mile solo circumnavigation of the globe.
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