An Australian sailor and his dog were rescued by a Mexican fishing boat after being lost at sea for the past three months.
A tuna fishing vessel from the company Grupomar picked up Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock aboard his immobilized catamaran Aloha Toa in the Pacific Ocean.
Mr. Shaddock and his dog Bella were taken aboard the Mexican boat and given food, water and medical care, the company said in a statement.
“Today one of our vessels rescued 54-year-old Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock and his dog ’Bella’ on their catamaran in the Pacific Ocean, after 3 months at sea more than 1,200 miles from land,” Antonio Guerra, the company’s director general, said in a Monday night statement.
Mr. Shaddock and his dog are expected to return Tuesday to the port at Manzanillo, Colima.
El día de hoy uno de nuestros buques rescató a Timothy Lyndsay Shaddock, de 54 años de edad, y a su perrita “Bella” en su catamarán en el Océano Pacífico, después de 3 meses en altamar a más de 1,200 millas de tierra. @Grupomar pic.twitter.com/BSeRQRkZi4
— Antonio Guerra (@Guerra_Autrey) July 18, 2023
The sailor and his pet departed from the Mexican city of La Paz in April and set a course for French Polynesia.
A storm damaged the ship and knocked out its power weeks into the voyage, leaving the Sydney local stranded at sea.
“I’ve been through a very difficult ordeal at sea and I’m just needing rest and good food because I’ve been alone at sea a long time,” Mr. Shaddock told Australia’s Nine News television on Sunday.
The sailor, who looks thin and bearded in photos, told the network that lived off raw fish and rainwater while he was at sea.
Grupomar founder Antonio Suárez Gutiérrez praised his crew for their “courage and humanity” in rescuing Mr. Shaddock.
• This article is based in part on wire service reports.
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