Plastiki says no Distress Call- 'It was an arranged charter escort'

by Natalie Laharnar/Nancy Knudsen on 19 Jul 2010 The crew of the Plastiki were all smiles on arrival into Mooloolaba. Contrary to earlier reports, media representatives for the The Plastiki have denied vehemently that the catamaran constructed of 12,000 plastic bottles was rescued as it approached Mooloolaba in Queensland, nor, they add, has it at any point during its 7500 nautical mile voyage across the Pacific been in distress.

Conflicting with news earlier received from the Australian authorities and published in local media that the yacht had a disabled engine and was being pushed too far northward, therefore making a distress call picked up by Brisbane Water Police, they added today:

The crew is still on schedule to reach their final destination of Sydney by the end of July after a successful expedition.

The Plastiki’s original plan was to sail into Coffs Harbour and rendezvous with a pre-arranged charter escort vessel. Due to the unpredictable nature of the Plastiki’s sailing capabilities and the prevailing weather conditions, the crew determined that it would be wise to seek an escort vessel sooner than later so as to avoid being sent any further north of their intended staging destination of Coffs Harbor.

After reviewing multiple options to find a suitable escort the Plastiki crew took the advice of the Queensland Water Police and identified the AVCG as a suitable escort vessel.

The 13 metre AVCG vessel, ‘The Mooloolaba Rescue’ rendezvoused with the Plastiki on Sunday afternoon and towed the vessel to Mooloolaba. The Plastiki team has always viewed this as a straight forward tow charter situation, as has been previously required on all of the Plastiki’s calls into port.

The Plastiki will be paying all costs incurred and in addition, will be making a donation to the AVCG not only in recognition of the good work that the AVCG provides along the Australian coast but in recognition of the AVCG’s generous support of the Plastiki expedition.

'We are thrilled by all the support that we’ve received from the local authorities as we were finding it hard to track down a suitable vessel to help us reach our pre-planned destination of Coffs Harbour. This has never been a rescue mission. Since successfully sailing into Australian waters on Saturday 17th July the crew has been in high spirits and is looking forward sharing its adventure and message of beating waste with the Australian public.'

'To date we have made a number of routine and unplanned stops during the voyage and this tow and stop will be no different to those previously. Any exciting ocean adventure is always going to have to deal with many unknowns. I am confident that we should still be on course to arrive in Sydney for next weekend’s arrival celebrations,' David de Rothschild, expedition leader said.

'We are grateful to the AVCG and its capable volunteers for providing assistance. It has always been the intention of the crew to seek an escort vessel once it neared the Australian Coast and given the forecasted weather conditions we felt it prudent to seek a tow at this time to help ensure a timely arrival,' David de Rothschild continued.

The Plastiki and her crew say they will be moored up in Sydney’s Darling Harbour, Australian National Maritime Museum from next weekend.

For more information, please go to: www.theplastiki.com