Rescued sailor applies for asylum

A RUSSIAN man who sailed for up to five weeks around the Atlantic on a stolen yacht has applied for asylum after being rescued off the Irish coast.

The 22-year-old was taken from the 12ft vessel by the Naval Service on Friday and brought to shore over the weekend.

On arrival at the Naval base at Haulbowline in Co Cork, he was taken under the authority of Garda immigration officers.

The man, who name is being withheld, is unable to speak and communicated with naval staff and gardaí through a combination of sign language and translation cards. It is understood he has made a formal application for asylum and is being accommodated at a residential centre for asylum seekers in Cork. He was medically examined after being at sea for such a long period, but did not require significant treatment.

The yacht, named Le Katell, was reported stolen from the French port of Roscoff on August 23, five weeks before being seen by British sailing vessel Willing Boys on Thursday with one person on board.

The young Siberian had planned to sail to the Mediterranean and thought he was off the west coast of France when Naval officers brought him aboard the LE Aisling about 300km west of the Co Clare coast early on Friday afternoon.

“The yacht had probably travelled around 600 miles [950km] since leaving Roscoff and would eventually have been caught in the North Atlantic drift and carried up to Northern Ireland and Scotland,” said naval service spokesman Lieutenant Commander Terry Ward.

“In 24 years of service, I’ve never seen a yacht that small so far off shore. If he hadn’t been spotted on Thursday, he would have carried on and if he hadn’t been located by us on Friday he would almost certainly have come to an unlucky end,” the officer said.

The British fishing vessel which first spotted the yacht told the Coast Guard that the sailor waved them away, indicating he did not want assistance but that he appeared disorientated.

The LE Aisling arrived at the yacht’s reported location at 9pm on Thursday and, with the help of an RAF Nimrod plane, located it at lunchtime on Friday about 200km west of Loop Head in Co Clare.

The yacht had a main sail and small jib sail, but had no navigation equipment or radio on board. Lt Cdr Ward said its size made it difficult to pick up on radar in the open sea and it might have been expected to capsize in the gales in the region the week before last.

The vessel had been confirmed as matching the description of a stolen yacht by the French Coast Guard at the weekend.

It is likely to be returned to its owner in France.