Australian navy rescues adventurer who hit a cyclone while rowing across the Pacific

Australian Navy sailors from HMAS Choules use an inflatable boat to rescue
Lithuanian rower Aurimas Mockus, yesterday

An Australian warship yesterday rescued a Lithuanian solo rower who had encountered a tropical cyclone while attempting to cross the Pacific Ocean from California.

Aurimas Mockus was taken aboard Royal Australian Navy landing ship HMAS Choules, where he was undergoing a medical assessment, Vice Adm. Justin Jones said in a statement.

“Because of highly unfavorable sea conditions, Mr. Mockus’s boat could not be recovered except for two oars and some personal items,” the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, which coordinated the rescue, said in a statement

Adventurer stranded for 3 days by storm

The 44-year-old adventurer had been stranded for three days in the Coral Sea around 740 kilometers east of the Queensland state coastal city of Mackay. He had rowed there in an enclosed boat nonstop from San Diego headed for the Queensland capital, Brisbane.

He began the 12,000-kilometer journey in October and was days away from Brisbane when he ran into the storm, which is forecast to cross the Australian coast within days.

Brisbane is 800 kilometers south of Mackay by air.

Mockus activated an emergency beacon on Friday after rowing into stormy seas and 80 kph winds generated by Tropical Cyclone Alfred, the rescue authority said.

The authority sent a plane that made radio contact with Mockus on Saturday. Mockus reported he was “fatigued,” the authority said.

The warship is taking Mockus south beyond Brisbane to Sydney in New South Wales, the navy said.

The cyclone has continued to track south and on Monday was 450 kilometers (280 miles) east of Brisbane, authorities said.

The cyclone is forecast to turn west and cross the Australian coast on Thursday or Friday.

Solo rowers have crossed the Pacific Ocean nonstop in the past

Mockus was attempting to become one of the few rowers who have crossed the Pacific alone and without stopping.

Brit Peter Bird arguably became the first in 1983. He rowed from San Francisco and was towed the final 48 kilometers to the Australian mainland. But he is considered to have rowed close enough to Australia to have made the crossing.

Fellow Brit John Beeden rowed from San Francisco to the Queensland city of Cairns in 2015 and is considered by some to have made the first successful crossing.

Australian Michelle Lee became the first woman to make the crossing in 2023, rowing from Ensenada in Mexico to Queensland’s Port Douglas.

Another Australian, Tom Robinson, in 2022 attempted to become the youngest to across the Pacific, albeit with a break in the Cook Islands. He set out from Peru and spent 265 days at sea before he was rescued off Vanuatu in 2023.

A wave capsized the 24-year-old’s boat, leaving him clinging naked to the hull for 14 hours before he was rescued by a cruise ship that made a 200-kilometer detour to reach him. ROD McGUIRK, MELBOURNE, MDT/AP