Four sailors endured an 18-hour battle for survival in the remote South Pacific after a sperm whale struck their yacht, splitting the hull and sending the vessel plunging to the ocean floor.
The crew of the 52-foot Tai Tam recounted their harrowing weekend ordeal, describing a collision with a pod of whales some 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island, a tiny territory which lies halfway between Australia and New Zealand.
Australian national Jemma Cooper was at the helm when the animal hit.
“There was sort of a loud thud. The whole boat was pushed sideways,” she said, explaining she was flung from the steering wheel by the impact.
She wasn’t sure what had happened at first – but she spotted a brownish discolouration in the surrounding water alongside a sperm whale.
“We looked out to our port side, and there were six to eight, a pod, of whales there. So then it became clear that that’s what it was,” she said.
Her husband Jeremy Cooper had been asleep below deck when the collision jolted him awake.
“It was pretty immediately evident it was very serious,” he recalled.
“All the steering gear was smashed on the starboard side, and there was a significant amount of water coming in,” Mr Cooper said.
Jeremy Cooper had been asleep below deck when the collision jolted him awake
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NZ DEFENCE FORCE
Roughly half an hour after the whale struck, at 1pm on Saturday, the crew triggered their emergency beacon.
“We declared a full mayday,” said Terry Hetherington, a New Zealand member of the crew, who added that they spent the following hours frantically bailing water from the stricken vessel.
A Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft was dispatched to the scene to set up radio contact and oversee rescue efforts.
Martin Jaffre, a French crew member who works as a joiner, described how the whale had torn multiple gashes in the hull, fractured the fibreglass structure and destroyed the steering mechanism.
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Crew spent hours bailing water from their sinking boat
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NZ DEFENCE FORCE
Roughly half an hour after the whale struck, at 1pm on Saturday, the crew triggered their emergency beacon
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NZ DEFENCE FORCE
“We could no longer steer the boat, and a boat with no steering quickly becomes a problem,” he said.
His fellow sailors praised Mr Jaffre for diving beneath the yacht to assess the damage and using whatever materials were available, including expansion foam, to stem the flooding.
The four fought to keep the vessel afloat for as long as they could, manually bailing water and battling to prevent the engine from becoming blocked.
As night fell, they made the decision to leave the Tai Tam, climbing into a life raft under calm skies and a full moon.
During the early hours of Sunday, they severed the line connecting them to the yacht, fearful it could pull them under as it sank.
As night fell, they made the decision to leave the Tai Tam, climbing into a life raft under calm skies and a full moon
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NZ DEFENCE FORCE
Ms Cooper spotted a pod of sperm whales shortly after the vessel was struck
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GETTYThe vessel disappeared beneath the waves shortly afterwards.
At 6am local time on Sunday, the 470-foot container ship MV Sofrana Surville reached the sailors, according to the New Zealand military – around 18 hours after the whale encounter.
Jeremy Cooper admitted that even the rescue proved nerve-wracking as the enormous vessel bore down on their small raft.
Within 30 minutes, however, all four had climbed a ladder aboard, enjoyed a coffee and spoken with the captain, he said.
“It was wonderful, wonderful, and just a terrible, terrible ending – but luckily no loss of life,” he said.
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