Police say the rescue on the weekend serves as a reminder to be ready when heading out on the water.
Search and Rescue coordinator Sergeant Dougall Henderson, of Invercargill, stated the 2 males had been out on a fishing and diving journey south of Milford Sound when their 6.4m leisure boat “failed” on Saturday evening, leaving them stranded.
The pair had been in a position to make use of their iPhone satellite tv for pc emergency textual content system to message for assist.
Their messages had been acquired by the iPhone Emergency Comms Centre within the Netherlands who relayed their plight to New Zealand police.
Marine VHF radio broadcasts had been then put out by Maritime NZ on an hourly foundation for any vessels within the space capable of help with no response.
‘‘The next morning, police and members of the family had been arranging a float aircraft to fly alternative batteries to the lads, when a leisure boatie heard the decision for assistance on his VHF radio.
‘‘He and his three passengers, who had been on a day’s fishing journey, went to the pair’s rescue and had been capable of take the stricken vessel below tow again to Milford Sound, which was roughly 50km away.’’
Though the lads had been nicely ready with lifejackets, two types of communication and had not consumed alcohol, Sgt Henderson stated the incident highlighted how tough help may very well be within the occasion of a mechanical failure or emergency state of affairs.
‘‘It’s a well timed reminder of the golden guidelines of cruising significantly in remoted areas like Fiordland.’’
These included all the time sporting a lifejacket, guaranteeing two types of communication — together with a private locator beacon (PLB) or emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) — checking the climate forecast, telling somebody the place you had been heading and guaranteeing you had an auxiliary motor.
Alcohol and boating additionally didn’t combine, Sgt Henderson stated.
‘‘Lastly, police want to thank the skipper and his crew who gave up their fishing day to assist a fellow boatie in want.’’
— Allied Media
