Ocean rower Tom Mahuta Robinson, 24, was rescued from the Pacific Ocean by a cruise ship. Video / Daphne Armstrong
Dramatic footage has emerged of the moment stricken rower Tom Robinson abandoned his overturned craft and swam to safety on board a cruise ship as passengers saw a shark lurking in the deep nearby.
Robinson, 24, sent out a distress signal when a rogue wave upturned his vessel last Thursday in the Pacific Ocean, north of New Caledonia.
Auckland-based cruise ship the Pacific Explorer was first on the scene and arrived to the solo mariner’s aid some 14 hours after the mayday signal was activated.
The endurance rower, who lives in Brisbane, was found hunkered atop his upturned vessel with no clothes to protect him from the elements.
Passenger Daphne Armstrong captured the lucky rescue on camera while she was holidaying on the cruise.
“But when he got back on the boat’s hull, the shark didn’t get him thank goodness and just turned around and was swimming close by to see if he’d fall in basically.”
While it wasn’t what she expected to encounter while on holiday, it wasn’t a life-changing experience for Armstrong as she had served in the Navy for over a decade.
“I was in the Navy for 12½ years, I’ve retired now but we did a lot of search and rescues and recoveries as well.
“For me, it felt like being at home really, but for everyone else it was like, ‘wow’.”
She commended the crew for their efforts in saving Robinson.
“A lot of people like myself were upset we didn’t get to the island we were heading to, but I said to the gentleman that was saved, ‘a life is more important than me touching the sand’.
“I’d rather do the trip again and know that we’d definitely saved a life.”
Ocean rower Tom Mahuta Robinson, 24, spent the night on his capsized ship, before being rescued south of Vanuatu.
In an exclusive interview with Rod Pascoe from NZME BusinessDesk, who was a passenger on the ship, Robinson said a rogue wave came out of nowhere and flipped the boat.
“I was just sitting there inside the boat contemplating dinner and a millisecond later it was upside down.”
Robinson instantly leaped into action, swimming out of the flooded cabin and climbing onto the hull of the boat before activating his EPIRB (emergency position indicating radio beacon) and sending out a distress signal.
He had a radio, three different EPIRBs, a life jacket and a life raft on board.
“With the state I was in, the best option for me was to sit on top of the hull while it was overturned and hold that EPIRB,” he said.
Robinson said he clung onto the boat for around 14 hours.
“I had a line around my waist tied onto the boat that really helped me because waves were constantly breaking over the boat. I was holding on for dear life,” he said.
He said the worst thing was the cold, which left him chattering his teeth all night.
Despite the circumstances, Robinson said he was surprisingly calm and collected and had the utmost faith that help would arrive.
“You can’t let any doubts creep in because then that just becomes a really bad headspace to be in,” he said.
Surviving overnight on the hull of his 7.3m rowing boat Maimar, Robinson was picked up safely.
“This morning, after first light, I saw the cruise ship approaching and I knew I was saved,” he said soon after being rescued.
Ocean rower Tom Robinson with the crew of the P&O Pacific Explorer who rescued him from the ocean north of New Caledonia. Photo / Carnival Australia
A spokesperson for cruise operator Carnival Australia said the ship diverted north of its course from New Caledonia to Vanuatu, and the rower was rescued from his upturned vessel just before 7am.
Cruise guest Jason Ballantyne said it was “quite surreal seeing someone rescued so far out to sea”.
In a statement issued via Carnival Australia, the rower thanked the crew who rescued him.
“I was treated with the utmost courtesy and kindness by the medical staff. Many, many thanks to P&O for everything they have done for me,” he said.
Less than six hours after the near-death experience, Robinson was pictured smiling with the crew of the cruise vessel.
The Pacific Explorer made a 200km detour to respond to the mayday signal. Photo / Cruise Mapper
The cruise line praised the rescue work of the captain and his crew.
“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our crew, led by Captain Alan Nixon, for their efforts to once again rescue a fellow mariner in distress, as well as our guests on board for their understanding,” said a spokesperson for Carnival Australia.
The endurance rower was on a mission to be the youngest person to row solo across the Pacific.
He was on the final leg of his year-long adventure to row from South America, back home to Brisbane. The young Australian set off from Lima, Peru, in July 2022 and had recently called into Luganville, on Vanuatu, after a 70-day stint at sea.
This was the second distress call attended by the Auckland-based P&O vessel in as many weeks. It came to the aid of a New Zealand sailboat on September 25 en-route to Fiji.
The cruise ship helped rescue two of the crew of immobilised sailboat the Second Life, with assistance from the Fijian Navy. Kiwi skipper 73-year-old Clive Nothling died of his injuries.
