Eight People, Including Baby, Rescued After Boat Sinks Off Queensland Coast
A Queensland family had a trip to forget on Friday, September 18, when, en route to North West Island, their boat began to take on water and sink.
The Nugent family party included three children, one of them an eight-month-old baby. ““We’re not too sure what happened,” James Nugent told 7News. “We were travelling out and heard like a bit of a thud … Next thing we know, there’s water squirting up onto the board.”
The Nugents then set off an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon (EPIRB) and sent a distress signal before inflating a life raft. “If we didn’t have all that equipment, we’d still be out there floating on the water,” Nugent said.
“Earlier this morning we detected an EPIRB registered to an 8m vessel about 77km east of Yeppoon, Queensland,” said the Australian Maritime Safety Authority on Facebook. “The vessel had eight people on board and was taking water and sinking, passengers donned lifejackets and abandoned the vessel.”
Nugent shot video of the moment of their rescue, during which Nugent’s father remarks, “We lost all the beer!” Credit: Australian Maritime Safety Authority via Storyful
