Flare enables Atlantic solo yachtsman to be rescued

03/03/2023

When a storm damaged his yacht steering and radio, a French sailor, travelling solo across the Atlantic, used a parachute rocket flare to signal to rescuers.

Lucas Monteux was sailing solo across the Atlantic with his dog when a storm broke the yacht’s steering and water caused further damage.

He was unable to fix his yacht and sent out a distress call in Kwa-Zulu Natal, trying for two days to attract further attention.

The Russian sea tanker Kama, on exercise in South Africa, was asked to investigate and come to the rescue.

Lucas Monteux was unable to transmit his coordinates by radio, but he fired a signal flare and was found by the tanker crew, taken aboard with his dog and given medical attention.

When the tanker docked in Cape Town, the French sailor and his dog were safely handed over to the representatives of the French Consulate General.

Mr Monteux says, “I hadn’t seen a signal on my AIS for days, but when I looked at it just before sleep, in the middle of no man’s land I saw the Kama, reports Defence Web. “I called them on the emergency radio channel and they immediately asked for my position. I knew they could not see me on radar or AIS, so I launched a safety rocket – a parachute rocket – and two minutes later I saw the tanker Kama, changing its course to rescue me.”