The Saint-Martin SNSM station was again mobilized recently to rescue a sailor adrift aboard his tender who suffered an engine failure.
At 4 a.m., the CROSS Antilles-Guyane called on the Saint Martin SNSM station for assistance at sea. A man was on board a small 1,80m dinghy, the engine of which had just broken down. . The boater is adrift, the wind pushing him out to sea. Despite his efforts to approach the coast using two oars, he moved away from the mainland.
In possession of a telephone, the man manages to join the gendarmerie which hastens to contact the CROSS-AG. A PAN PAN message is then transmitted on the VHF to alert sailors in the area that a person is in difficulty. The CROSS-AG also uses geolocation to know the exact position of the appendix.
On arrival, no boat at anchor in the Bay of Grand-Case or in the surrounding area reacted to the distress signal. The CROSS Antilles-Guyane therefore decides to hire the SNSM of Saint-Martin. The time to prepare the equipment, five rescuers (volunteers, it should be remembered) left Marina Fort-Louis at 4:30 am aboard the semi-rigid "Rescue Star".
For his part, the yachtsman still on board his tender remains in contact with the CROSS, while informing him that the state of the sea is deteriorating. Hence his legitimate concern.
Always demonstrating responsiveness and professionalism, the five crew members of the “Rescue Star” manage to locate the yachtsman within a quarter of an hour using the flashlight on his telephone.
After pairing up with the dinghy, the rescuers provided the man with a life jacket, before transferring him to the semi-rigid. Direction the Bay of Grand-Case where the yachtsman is very happy to find his boat at anchor and not… adrift!
New prevention message to sea users!
The SNSM of Saint-Martin reminds that it is essential to have a minimum of emergency equipment in its annex; rockets, hand flares, whistle, flash-light (among others) in order to be able to alert people in the vicinity in the event of damage.
It also wishes to remind all boaters that when there is an emergency at sea, rather than contacting the gendarmerie, and in order to speed up the process and directly activate the necessary stakeholders, you must contact the CROSS-AG directly. to the emergency number, LE 196 (from a landline or mobile phone of a French operator), or at (+596) 596 70 92 92 (from a foreign number), and of course VHF channel 16 which puts you in direct contact with the CROSS-AG. _AF
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