Star-Explorer

On June 9th 2012 British rower Charlie Martell was rescued by the crew of a Gibraltar-flag ship after he ran into trouble during an attempt to row solo across the Pacific from Japan to America. The Territorial Army Royal Engineer Commando sent out a mayday call on June 7 after his boat Blossom was damaged by 50ft waves during a tropical typhoon. The crew on the cargo ship Last Tycoon was alerted by the Japanese coastguard and altered course toward the distress position, taking two days to get there and find him. On board the merchant ship, the crew marvelled at the rower’s daring attempt to cross the world’s largest ocean. “All the crew is surprised with the courage of Mr. Martell, who decided to cross Pacific Ocean alone on board a row boat,” wrote Captain Aleksandr Kornilov in a report to the ship’s owner. “But of course, all of us happy that we could save a human life at sea.” In his report, the Captain of the Gibraltar-registered ship described how his vessel rolled and pitched in the heavy seas as it made its way toward the 41-year old rower. http://www.chronicle.gi/headlines_details.php?id=25200

The stricken rower Charlie Martell has been rescued from the Pacific Ocean after a 36-hour ordeal. The 41-year-old man from Cirencester had to abort his attempt to row across the ocean after his boat was hit by tropical storm, Mawar on June 7. Lieutenant Martell sent out a mayday signal when his boat, the "Blossom", was pitch-poled in 50ft seas, 700 miles off the coast of Japan. The impact broke a bulkhead, making it too dangerous to continue. He had been at sea for 34 days out of an anticipated 130-day voyage towards San Francisco. He was picked up by the "Last Tycoon" which was en route to Vancouver. The vessel had been alerted to Martell's situation by the Japan coastguard, and made a minor diversion to effect rescue him. An attempt will be made to recover the rowing boat before the vessel continues to its destination.