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Crew rescued from sailing ship taking on water
On April 22, 2026, at 9 a.m. the 'Cekritito', with six crew members - four men and two women - on board, started taking on water and suffered an engine failure 160 nautical miles northwest of Peinador Airport, at the boundary with the Portuguese SAR zone, and requested assistance. A rescue operation began, and the SAR helicopters Helimer 402 and Pesca I were mobilised by the CCS Fisterra of Salvamento Marítimo, in collaboration with the CNCS. With 30 knots of wind and a distance of 155 nautical miles, the helicopter Pesca 1, a Eurocopter AS 365 Dauphin with a theoretical range of 230 nautical miles, had to push its capabilities to the absolute limit. Adding to the difficulty, the communication initially failed. Radio contact was held by a contact person in Estonia. When the helicopter reached the vessel, a perilous undertaking began for the crew. In heavy seas, all six crew members had to jump from the deck onto a life raft, before the helicopter could winch them aboard one by one. Everyone was flown safely to Vigo. It was currently unknown whether the boat was still adrift somewhere in the Atlantic or has sunk. The last AIS signal was sent at noon on the day of the incident. At the same time, a regional alert warned of the adrift boat; its last known position was 42°46.73'N 011°52.33'W off Finisterre. The ship had sailed from Ponta Delgada on April 16. The 'Cekritito' was built in Sweden as a thesis for a naval architecture course, based on a design by Bruce Roberts. Since 2021, she has been used for sailing training trips. At the time of the accident, she was returning from the Caribbean and was scheduled to participate in the Tall Ships Races 2026. Report with photo and video: https://www.yacht.de/special/seenot/seenot-brenzlige-rettung-von-sechs-seglern-im-atlantik/
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