Travelers managed to be urgently evacuated.
Russian circumnavigators became victims of sharks
In the Pacific Ocean, about 835 kilometers southeast of the city of Cairns in Australia, sharks attacked the crew of the Russian Ocean Way round-the-world expedition. The incident was described in the official telegram channel of the expedition.
The expedition members reported that sharks attacked their catamaran twice. The first attack occurred on September 4, when the sharks damaged the ship's rear left tank. Despite the emergency condition, the catamaran lasted about a day and covered about 160 kilometers.
The next day, sharks bit through the right balloon, and the catamaran began to sink. After that, the expedition crew, consisting of Russian participants Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Berezkin, as well as Frenchman Vincent Thomas Etienne, sent an SOS signal. After 45 minutes, the travelers were evacuated aboard the dry cargo ship Dugong Ace, which was heading to Shanghai.
The expedition members managed to save their personal belongings, but the catamaran had to be left in the ocean. The rescued sailors will be taken to Brisbane, where they will decide on the further continuation of the expedition.
The Russian Ocean Way round-the-world expedition was organized by the branch of the Russian Geographical Society in Tomsk. The purpose of the researchers was to pass the route of the first round-the-world Russian expeditions on an inflatable sailing trimaran. In March 2023, the vessel's steering failed and the crew was evacuated on a commercial vessel. After some time, the journey continued on an inflatable catamaran.