Aurimas Mockus is at the center of a search-and-rescue mission in the Coral Sea east of Australia after he activated his emergency beacon. The Lithuanian, who was attempting to row across the Pacific Ocean from San Diego to Brisbane, is caught in Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Mockus, 44, sent out his distress signal on February 28, approximately 740km east of Australia. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority immediately sent an aircraft to locate him. Initial attempts to contact him were unsuccessful.
Map: The Guardian
Today, one of the rescue planes spoke to Mockus. He told them he has no serious injuries but that he is exhausted.
Terrifying seas
The Royal Australian Navy quickly deployed another aircraft and a ship, HMAS Choules, from Brisbane to reach the stranded rower. That aircraft visually located Mockus. Their images show his tiny boat being thrown about in terrifying seas.
Mockus left San Diego on October 15, 2024, aiming to row 12,000km across the Pacific. Had he reached Australia, he would have been the first person to row this route across the Pacific. But for the last two weeks, the weather has rapidly deteriorated. First, he became trapped in a whirlpool, which forced him to row in the wrong direction to get out of it. He had hoped to use a three-day spell of good weather to head for Brisbane, but a different cyclone forced him onto his para-anchor and he missed the weather window.
Photo: Aurimas Mockus
Barely a week out from Australia, he was unable to evade the powerful Tropical Cyclone Alfred. Winds up to 100kph and waves up to seven meters brutally batter his vessel. To make matters worse, he has little battery power left.
“There’s no sun out in the ocean, so I must conserve my battery power as much as possible,” he said. “I’ve shut down everything I can, leaving only the ability to communicate with my shore team. I just spoke with them, and they had nothing reassuring to say. I must endure this wind.”
Mockus said that rowing is “out of the question — I need to survive.” He told his team that he is now “in God’s hands.”
The HMAS Choules should reach him Monday morning, so he will have to hold on a little longer.
