MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South African sailboat in distress rescued by Uruguayan Navy

The K'Lai is to remain in Uruguay for repairs, which are expected to last a few days

A South African sailboat that declared an emergency some 400 kilometers off the exclusive beach resort of Punta del Este was rescued Monday by the Uruguayan Navy and escorted to La Paloma for repairs. The K'Lai lost one of her masts and was stranded at sea, it was explained.

The three occupants suffered minor complications given the boat's lack of maneuvering capacity amid high waves but were reported to be otherwise in good health. The sailboat was stranded on April 18.

The Uruguayan authorities were alerted by their Argentine counterparts who received a satellite call from the ship asking for help. The vessel was “only propelled by an internal engine”, but with reduced autonomy, so it needed help to reach the shore.

The ROU 04 General Artigas vessel tried to rescue the K'Lai on Friday but failed due to the high waves. It was then decided that the best course of action was to supply the boat the boat in distress with enough fuel to make it to the shore on its engine. The refueling operation was carried out on Monday and needed less time than projected thanks to favorable weather conditions which “considerably” reduced the transfer times.

The K'Lai is 13 meters long and 3.5 meters wide. It was crossing the Atlantic Ocean from South Africa to Punta del Este with three crew members on board, two men aged 65 and 55 and a 26-year-old woman.

Everything was going very well until about 400 kilometers from their destination when they had to face a strong storm with waves of more than 6 meters high and winds exceeding 80 kilometers per hour, which caused serious damage to the vessel, including, most seriously, the breakage of the main mast, the South African crew was quoted as saying by Montevideo's Telemundo.

They also explained that they managed to place a satellite telephone call to Argentina's Coast Guard who relayed the problem to Uruguayan authorities.

The K'Lai is to remain in Uruguay for repairs -which are expected to last a few days- before resuming her voyage along the coasts of Uruguay, Argentina, and Brazil, to then return to South Africa.