Turkish sailors rescue man stranded at sea

ISTANBUL

Turkish sailors have rescued a French adventurer onboard his pedal-powered boat who had been sailing for a while but got lost at sea recently following a six-hour operation.

On June 24, a crude oil ship belonging to a private company where Turkish sailors were on duty was sailing in the Atlantic Ocean off the shores of Puerto Rico. With the warning of the U.S. Coast Guard, the Turkish sailors started a rescue operation for a boat lost at sea, which lasted six hours.

French adventurer Didier Bovard, who had been in the ocean for 137 days, left the ship with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection teams.

Necati Doğan, the captain of the ship, explained the incident with a statement on his social media account.

Doğan said that on June 24, they received a call from the company and said the local Transport Ministry requested assistance rescuing a boat 200 miles north of Puerto Rico.

“The U.S. Coast Guard sent a message stating that the boat was drifting and had no mobility while a storm was approaching from behind. We were the closest ship and were asked to take the ship to the location and rescue the boat. We immediately initiated the necessary procedures and set the ship on the fastest route to reach the said location. After four hours of searching, we only saw a shining mirror and headed towards it.”

Stating that the crew warned the stranded man with a whistle and told him to get into the boat and they would fire the rope launcher, Doğan said they tried to attach a part of the 200-meter thin rope to the six-meter boat and miraculously succeeded.

“Four of us pulled the man’s boat to the port side in a controlled manner. When we rescued him, he looked very tired and exhausted. We immediately gave him water and chocolate to restore his blood sugar levels and measured his blood pressure. First, he asked for an acidic drink, then he asked for something sugary,” Doğan added.