Three sailors rescued from a life raft by a passing cruise ship after their boat sank near New Caledonia says the incident won’t stop them taking to the sea.

September 28, 2019

Three rescued sailors plucked from the sea by a passing cruise ship after their boat struck trash and sank near New Caledonia say they won’t let their experience turn them into landlubbers.

Chris Doran, his cousin Kevin Doran and Ben Johnson were heading home to Australia from the South Pacific on Thursday when their motor cruiser struck a discarded mooring rope about 5.30am.

“Initially we thought we might have hit a reef but that wasn’t the case,” Chris Doran told reporters in Brisbane after the cruise ship that rescued them docked on Saturday morning.

“We found quite a large ship’s rope, there was about 50 metres of it and it wrapped around both propellers causing a breach in the hull, the boat started filling with water.”

Realising their boat was going under, the men grabbed their passports, some water and a few cans of baked beans before piling into a life raft.

Rough seas made escaping the sinking boat tough but once safely onboard the raft the men used a satellite phone to make a May Day call.

“Our biggest concern was we might rip on a reef … it would have cut the raft up, plus us,” Chris Doran said.

Fortunately for them, however, help wasn’t too far away. 

The Pacific Dawn cruise ship was in the area and quickly came to their rescue.

“It was a sight, it was great,” Kevin Doran said of the moment the massive ship appeared on the horizon.

Captain Alan Dockeray says it was a no-brainer making the decision to go to the stricken sailors’ aid.

“We had to go and help them and fortunately they were on the route so we didn’t even have to turn back,” he said laughing with the men.

“They were very nice, unexpected guests.”

Chris Doran said it was a great feeling walking down the gangplank into Brisbane but he’s still coming to grips with what happened.

“After all the sea miles we’ve done, how do you hit a piece of rope in the middle of the ocean?” he asked.

“It’s bad luck, we only had to be 50 metres one way or the other and we’d still be going.”

Asked if they’ll head back out on the water any time soon, all three men were adamant they would not let the incident dent their seafaring.

“It could have been a lot worse, especially if it happened in the middle of the night or the ship was further away,” Chris Doran said.