KEY POINTS:
Two sea-sick yachties had a luxury recovery onboard a cruise ship after they were picked up from their catamaran Zero Gravity in the Tasman Sea.
The yachties, a Canadian and Ukrainian, were almost 200 nautical miles off the West Coast when picked up by the cruise ship Sapphire Princess.
Zero Gravity had been travelling from Hobart to Bluff, when the skipper had become concerned after the crew became extremely sick and immobile, Maritime New Zealand said.
The Rescue Coordination Centre diverted a container ship to the catamaran on Sunday, but the skipper advised that while unwell, the crew were not as ill as first thought.
However, after further discussions with the skipper, there were still concerns about the condition of the crew.
The luxury liner, which has a doctor and medical supplies, was diverted to the catamaran on Monday.
A search aircraft from Invercargill was sent on Monday afternoon to help.
A medical party from the cruise ship boarded the catamaran, assessed the crew, and evacuated them.
The rescue operation took about 20 minutes, said Sapphire Princess' Captain Nick Bates.
The cruise ship gave the skipper some fresh supplies to make the rest of the journey more comfortable.
Capt Bates said the yachties were recovering well and were looking forward to giving up the high life, to rejoin the crew of the catamaran.
The yachties got off the ship today when it stopped in Dunedin.
The catamaran was enroute to Milford Sound and was expected to arrive at 1pm today, Maritime New Zealand said.
- NZPA
