It's hard to believe what happened to this Russian crew. Siberians Evgeny Kovalevsky and Stanislav Beryozkin, accompanied by Frenchman Vincent Thomas Garate, were leaving Vanuatu on 28 August bound for Cairns when both hulls of their nine-metre inflatable catamaran "Tion-Russian Ocean Way" were damaged in several shark attacks some 835 kilometres south-east of Cairns.
The men activated their distress signal and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) requested the assistance of a nearby car carrier along with the Cairns-based rescue aircraft.
The car transporter "Dugong Ace" was able to rescue the crew unharmed.
Aerial view of the coast guard
Cigar sharks attack the rubber skin
The cause of the accident was allegedly attacks by cigar sharks. The cigar shark, also known as the cookie cutter shark, is one of the smallest shark species and can grow up to 50 cm long. Its teeth are shaped in such a way that it can cut circular bite marks into its prey.
This shark is known for "cutting out" meat from larger animals by clinging to them and then turning to cut out a circular piece of meat. This unusual method has earned it the nickname "cookie cutter shark".
Cigar sharks are found in all the world's oceans, but favour warm waters. They are nocturnal and spend the day at depths of up to 3,700 metres, but come up at night to feed. Apparently they thought the rubber skin of the catamaran hulls was edible. According to the Australian Coast Guard, this is a known behaviour.
Coast Guard statement
A daring expedition
The Russian core crew has been on an expedition around the world from St. Petersburg since 1 July 2021. The occasion is the 250th anniversary of the birth of the explorer Adam Johann von Kruzenstern and the 200th anniversary of the discovery of Antarctica by Russian explorers. The aim was to set a record for the greatest distance travelled on an inflatable sailing trimaran.
The trimaran was also lost
However, the trimaran was already in distress off Chile in March when the suspension for the steering gear broke in heavy seas. The crew was rescued by a general cargo ship at the time. However, the trimaran, which was moored alongside, broke away from the freighter shortly after it was rescued.
However, a crew member would have had to enter the water in order to reconnect with the vessel and take it in tow. The captain of the freighter prohibited this due to the conditions. The captain made another attempt and approached the trimaran again, crew members tried to throw lines onto the trimaran from the freighter in the hope that one of them would get caught and the trimaran could be towed. But this failed and the trimaran had to be abandoned.
The catamaran has already been attacked once
In March, a catamaran was purchased, again inflatable, which had apparently been stored in a garage on Easter Island. The expedition team made it ready for sea and set off from Rapa Nui in the Pacific on 23 April to continue their journey. However, shortly before reaching Tahiti, in the harbour of Hao Island, the cat was attacked by a shark, which caused a tear in one of the floats. The crew was able to repair it.
For a possible continuation of the Expedition there was no information yet.
