Six crew members of a pleasure craft that was adrift, without rudder, about 32 nautical miles south of Sines, were rescued yesterday afternoon by the FAP EH-101 helicopter, after the maritime means were not successful due to the state of the sea.
The six crew members, all of Portuguese nationality, were between 16 and 51 years old.
The alert was given at 15:17 pm, via VHF, by the crew of the yacht "VL Boat", "reporting that they would be in difficulties, as they had lost the boat's steering and were without navigation capacity, needing assistance", the Navy says in a note press release.
The INEM – Guidance Center for Urgent Patients at Sea (CODU-Mar) carried out a “medical assessment of the young people who were on board, showing signs of dehydration and of an adult with complaints of possible renal colic”.
The NRP boats “Dragão” and the Maritime Police boat “Fronteira” were sent to the rescue.
However, when the means arrived at the place, at 17:15 pm, “the sea conditions were quite adverse, making it impossible to support the vessel and rescue the crew with these means, after several attempts were made”.
Thus, a FAP helicopter – EH-101 was sent to rescue the crew, having landed in Lisbon at 00:40. All crew members were transported by INEM to the Hospital de Santa Maria, in a stable situation.
The operation was coordinated by the Lisbon Maritime Search and Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC Lisbon), in conjunction with the Captain of the Port of Sines, the Portuguese Air Force (FAP) and the INEM – Guidance Center for Urgent Patients at Sea ( CODU-Mar).
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