Stranded tourists saved by mobile text message<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Twelve foreign tourists and six cabin crew
\nstranded on a yacht named the Ombak Indah which was forced off
\ncourse in Lombok waters, West Nusa Tenggara, were rescued on
\nThursday after one of the tourists sent a mobile telephone text
\nmessage to her boyfriend in England.<\/p>\n
The yacht was carrying 10 British tourists, as well as one
\nAustralian and one New Zealand tourist, from Nusa Lembongan in
\nBali to Senggigi beach in Lombok early on Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
The engine failed in four-meter seas, allegedly due to big
\nwaves in Lombok waters. The weather in Lombok had been bad for a
\ncouple of days as a tropical cyclone with winds of between 50
\nkilometers per hour and 80 kilometers per hour pounded the area.<\/p>\n
One of the British tourists, Rebecca Fyfe, tried to summon
\nhelp with her mobile phone but failed, so she then sent a message
\n\"Contact Falmouth Coastguard, we need help - SOS,\" to her
\nboyfriend Nick Hodgson in Britain, AFP reported.<\/p>\n
Falmouth Coastguard, which is based in southwest England, is
\nthe station in England responsible for liaison with foreign
\nrescue services.<\/p>\n
Hodgson quickly called Fyfe and then contacted coastguard
\nofficials near London who relayed the message to Falmouth.<\/p>\n
Falmouth officials could not reach anyone in Indonesia so the
\nalert went to the Australian Maritime Search and Rescue Center in
\nCanberra.<\/p>\n
Through the Australian embassy, the SOS was finally passed to
\nJakarta, which sent a naval gunboat to Lombok.<\/p>\n
Mataram Naval Base Commander Col. Pramono Hadi said that the
\ntourists and the crew were all safe and had been evacuated to
\nnearby Sedutan beach, Gangga subdistrict, West Lombok.<\/p>\n
He said that he had received the information about the missing
\nyacht around 5.30 p.m. and quickly set out to search for it on
\nthe Ujung Pangkah naval vessel.<\/p>\n
The rescue mission also involved other vessels, including the
\nPandrong from Surabaya and Asia Jaya, which is owned by a travel
\nbureau in Bali, as well as the local police and two helicopters
\nowned respectively by mining company Newmont and the Denpasar
\nunit of the National Search and Rescue Agency.<\/p>\n
As of Thursday morning, the yacht had still not been found.<\/p>\n
According to Pramono, the exact position of the yacht was only
\nfound after four of the tourists reached Sedutan beach using
\nsurfboards at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
\"The tourists said that the yacht was stranded on rocks some
\n1.8 kilometers away from Sedutan, after been forced off course by
\nhuge waves and strong winds. The are still quite healthy and will
\nbe brought to the Mataram immigration office,\" Pramono said, as
\nquoted by Antara.<\/p>\n
Pramono added that he knew nothing as yet about the owner of
\nthe yacht.(hdn)<\/p>",
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