On Friday night, 8 July 2022, the sea rescuers from the Warnemünde station came to the aid of a sailing yacht with a visibly exhausted crew in very rough seas and strong winds on the Baltic Sea not far from the busy Kadet Channel. A little later, the sea rescuers from the DGzRS station in Sassnitz were also deployed in rough seas to help an unmanoeuvrable sailing yacht east of the island of Rügen. The Danish rescuers from the DSRS station in Lynæs on North Zealand rushed to the aid of a motorised sailing yacht that was drifting towards the coast with engine damage.
Warnemünde, 8 July 2022, 8 pmThe two-man crew and their sailing yacht were unable to make any more headway over ground in waves around two metres high and a stiff westerly wind of up to seven Beaufort. They were soaked, very exhausted and urgently needed help because of the onset of darkness. At this point, the woman and the man were about seven and a half nautical miles west of Ahrenshoop near the Kadet Channel - one of the busiest large shipping lanes in Europe with around 55,000 crossings every year.
The German DGzRS Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre immediately alerted the sea rescuers stationed in Warnemünde, who set sail for the sailing yacht just a few minutes later with the rescue cruiser "Arkona". Despite the difficult conditions, they quickly established a line connection on site and freed the sailors from their dangerous situation. The sea rescuers then brought the approximately ten-metre-long sailing yacht and its relieved crew safely into the port of Warnemünde. The towing journey took around three and a half hours due to the rough sea.
Sassnitz, 9 July 2022, 0:30 a.m.Emergency call via smartphone to the German Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre: A sailing yacht to the east of the island of Rügen has suffered a broken mast and also caught a line in its propeller. The already exhausted sailors were adrift at the time, unable to manoeuvre their approximately nine-metre-long yacht in very rough seas and strong westerly winds with gusts of force seven.
The sea rescuers from the Sassnitz station immediately set course for the distressed vessel with the rescue cruiser "Harro Koebke". Due to the ambiguous position and the very poor mobile phone connection, which kept dropping out, the sea rescuers had to search for some time in the specified sea area before they finally discovered the sailing yacht at around 2 a.m. about 13 nautical miles east of Sassnitz.
With waves up to two metres high, the rescue cruiser took the sailing yacht into the slipstream so that the crew of the daughter boat "Notarius" could establish a line connection. The "Notarius" then towed the distressed vessel and crew safely to Sassnitz.
Already on Thursday, 7 July 2022a Danish motorsailer got into distress off the coast of North Zealand when the engine failed and the 42-footer ran aground. The anchor dropped was unable to hold the 18-tonne vessel in the high swell, causing it to drift inexorably towards the coast. The young sailor couple then sent out distress calls and fired distress signals into the sky.
The fire brigade from Gilleleje and the sea rescuers from the DSRS in Lynæs came to the rescue, but were unable to free the ship from its precarious position due to its size and the shallow water. Once the crew was safely ashore, the operation was cancelled and the motor sailer was left to its own devices.
The two sailors are now faced with the ruins of their dream of sailing around the world. All their savings went into the boat and, tragically, there was not enough for insurance. Now they are hoping for a small miracle to save their boat before it is swept away by the surf.
Morten Strauch
Editor News & Panorama
