French, British yachtsmen rescued in M'sia waters: official
Two European yachtsmen were rescued by local fishermen and marine police after an SOS was picked up about 10,000 kilometres away by British coastguards, marine officials said today.
The yachtsmen, one French and one British, were in good health but their yacht "Blue" sank after hitting a floating log and splitting in two Tuesday morning, marine police chief Muhamad Muda told AFP .
"The yacht sank in 10 minutes," he said, and the two men, identified as Briton Thomas Jordan and Frenchman David Ruch, took to a dinghy.
But before abandoning ship, they managed to send out an SOS by satellite telephone which was picked up by coastguards in Falmouth on southwest Britain's Cornish coast.
Two European yachtsmen were rescued by local fishermen and marine police after an SOS was picked up about 10,000 kilometres away by British coastguards, marine officials said today.
The yachtsmen, one French and one British, were in good health but their yacht "Blue" sank after hitting a floating log and splitting in two Tuesday morning, marine police chief Muhamad Muda told AFP .
"The yacht sank in 10 minutes," he said, and the two men, identified as Briton Thomas Jordan and Frenchman David Ruch, took to a dinghy.
But before abandoning ship, they managed to send out an SOS by satellite telephone which was picked up by coastguards in Falmouth on southwest Britain's Cornish coast.
Hitting a log
The British alerted Malaysia's Maritime Rescue Coordinating Centre in Port Klang and marine police were despatched to search for the yachtsmen in the Straits of Malacca.
When they reached the area they found the men had already been picked up by a local fishing boat.
Muhamad Salleh, Perak marine police chief said the two men, both in their forties, were sailing up to Penang from Lumut, Perak - a journey of a few hours - when they hit the log.
"They are being taken care by the marine police in the nearby island of Lumut," he said. AFP
