The skipper of a Russian sailing vessel has revealed how a Ukrainian-crewed bulker rescued them after their ship became disabled in the Pacific.

Speaking to Sibir Realii, a pro-democracy Russian outlet funded by the US Congress, skipper Stanislav Berezkin explains how — since mid-2021, the Russian Ocean Way, an inflatable trimaran sailboat, has been circumnavigating the world. The ship has covered approximately 13,000 nm of its intended 32,000 nm route in the last two years.

However, at the end of February, the vessel departed from Talcahuano, Chile, for a Pacific crossing to Easter Island. While sailing about 1,000 miles to the west of Chile, it encountered a storm that caused damage to its steering system and eventually wrecked the ship on 16 March 2023.

Berezkin told the outlet that the all-Russian crew issued a distress signal, which was handled by the Chilean rescue coordination centre. The Panama-flagged bulker Sounion — crewed by Ukrainian and Filipino seafarers — responded.

Within five hours, the Sounion had located the trimaran. After a further two hours, the bulker had escorted the Russian crew safely on deck and had the wrecked vessel under tow, for the return journey to Chile.

“[The captain] said that he was from Mariupol, and [after] the bombing, he had to leave for Kyiv. We didn’t ask anyone else about anything. This is a bad topic,” says Berezkin.

“I felt that I am in a place where there are no races and nationalities, where you will be helped regardless of what language you speak, what skin colour and eye shape you have,” he adds. “In the sea, we are all at the same distance from God — at arm’s length.”

The post Ukrainian ship rescues Russian sailing vessel in Pacific appeared first on Marine Industry News.