A group of three sailors were enjoying a trip in their inflatable catamaran boat when disaster struck. The men’s boat was repeatedly attacked by sharks with one aim: To capsize the boat. The sharks severely damaged the boat's 30-foot hull.
According to NBC, the sharks were of the "cookiecutter" species, which grow to only 16 inches and rarely attack humans, making the situation even more strange.
The men, who were sailing more than 500 miles off Australia’s coat, were able to signal for help. At 1:30 AM, their emergency distress signal gained the attention of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA).
Rescuing the three men
“AMSA requested the assistance of Panama-flagged vehicle carrier Dugong Ace and tasked the Cairns-based Challenger Rescue Aircraft to the scene. Dugong Ace successfully conducted the rescue and collected three people: two Russian and one French citizen. They are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday morning,” AMSA said in a press release.
The catamaran had “large sections of its hull missing,” Joe Zeller, a senior manager at AMSA , who was on call when the distress signal was received, said in a statement. "An emergency beacon absolutely saved their lives.
“There are many reasons vessels are attacked by sharks, but the motivations of these sharks is unclear," he said.