Boaties spend 24 hours adrift
TWO Badu Island men were yesterday safely ashore after spending 24 hours adrift in seas near Papua New Guinea.
The pair, both 25, launched a 5m runabout from Saibai Island, in the Western Torres Strait about 10am on Monday.
They were due back on Badu, 90km south by 2pm but had failed to arrive by 10pm.
Anxious relatives alerted police to their disappearance, triggering a full-scale search and rescue operation.
Hampered by wild weather on Monday night, police concentrated initial search efforts on neighbouring islands, before launching an air and sea search on Tuesday, Cairns Sen-Constable Cary Coolican told The Cairns Post.
At first light on Tuesday, two choppers and seven fixed wing aircraft, including an RAAF Orion, a Coastwatch Dash 8 and the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Dornier search and rescue plane began scouring the area.
Police and navy craft joined the search, accompanied by SES spotters.
The men were finally sighted at 2.40pm, in their broken down craft, 14km off Warul Kawa (Deliverance) Island, 84km west of their Saibai launch point, and 36km from the PNG coast.
Police confirmed the pair had a full safety kit aboard.
The men were winched aboard a rescue helicopter and flown to Thursday Island Hospital for a checkup.
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Rescue: A map showing where the men were found.
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