Sick Sailor Winched From Ship Off Qld Coast

Image Credit: RACQ LifeFlight Rescue

LifeFlight has rescued a foreign sailor from the deck of a bulk carrier off the Queensland coastline.

The RACQ Rescue helicopter left from Bundaberg and travelled to a location off the Fraser Coast on Sunday morning, where the crew successfully winched a seriously ill Chinese crewman onboard.

The crew had been in contact with the ship since Saturday. The ship tracked closer towards the Queensland coast overnight and the decision was made to airlift the patient to hospital as soon as possible.

The RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter flew from Bundaberg to Hervey Bay airport just after 9.30 this morning and refuelled to enable them to stay airborne for longer. The rescue helicopter crew located the Oceana bulk carrier 130km off the coast of Hervey Bay.

Image Credit: RACQ LifeFlight Rescue

RACQ LifeFlight Rescue Aircrewman Chris Jowsey said the mission went smoothly.

"It was ideal conditions to perform the winch from the vessel, the seas were calm and thankfully there wasn't much wind," said Chris.

Once the Bell 412 helicopter was over the bulk carrier, the crew winched the Flight Intensive Care Paramedic as well as another rescue crewman down to the deck of the vessel. They then provided medical care to the patient, a man in his early 30s who was suffering from abdominal pain. He was placed in a harness and winched on board the rescue helicopter.

Image Credit: RACQ LifeFlight Rescue

After the patient and RACQ LifeFlight crew had been winched back on board the rescue helicopter, they flew to Hervey Bay Hospital, where the patient arrived in a stable condition.

The bulk carrier Oceana continued on its voyage to Newcastle.