CMA CGM Ship Rescues Four After Yacht Strikes Whale in South Pacific

Four sailors have been rescued from a life raft in the South Pacific after their yacht struck a whale and began taking on water about 250 nautical miles north of Norfolk Island.

The 51-foot Australian-flagged yacht Tai Tam was abandoned Saturday after the collision, according to the New Zealand Defence Force. The four people aboard activated the vessel’s emergency position-indicating radio beacon, or EPIRB, at around 1 p.m. New Zealand time before taking to a life raft. 

The distress signal was received by Maritime New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Centre New Zealand, which tasked a Royal New Zealand Air Force P-8A