Tom Robinson from Brisbane was rescued by a P&O cruise ship after an attempt to row across the Pacific Ocean failed
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A Brisbane man who planned to become the youngest person to ever row across the Pacific Ocean was rescued by a cruise ship after his boat capsized.
Tom Mahuta Robinson, 24, was discovered south of Vanuatu on Friday morning by P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Explorer ship.
The cruise took place on a nine-day round trip from Auckland, New Zealand, to the Pacific Islands.
It received a call for assistance from the New Caledonia Marine Rescue Coordination Center overnight and immediately changed course to rescue Mr Robinson.
He had just left Vanuatu for the final leg of his record-breaking journey across the Pacific.
Tom Robinson, a 24-year-old Brisbane man, was rescued by a P&O cruise ship south of Vanuatu on Friday morning (pictured, Mr Robinson on top of his boat)
Mr Robinson (pictured on board the cruise) was trying to become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean
However, the year-long journey came to a sad end when the 7-meter boat he had built himself capsized.
HR discovered that Mr Robinson was sunburned and dehydrated, but otherwise fine, and gave him medical care, clean clothes and a hot meal.
“I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all the crew members of P&O Pacific Explorer whose seamanship and professionalism ensured a safe rescue,” Mr Robinson said.
‘Once on board, I was treated with the utmost courtesy and friendliness by the medical staff.
‘Many, many thanks to P&O for everything they have done for me.’
Last week the passionate skipper told the ABC the final leg of his journey from Luganville, Vanuatu’s second largest city, to the Queensland coast would be the ‘make-or-break leg’.
He started his expedition over a year ago from Peru, South America.
Mr Robinson (pictured on his boat in Samoa) was found burned and dehydrated but was otherwise fine
Mr Robinson (above) set out on a journey to row across the Pacific Ocean from Peru, South America, over a year ago
The 24-year-old’s journey was more than a decade in the making, after he dreamed it up as a teenager.
However, it wasn’t all plain sailing, with Mr Robinson being forced to take a break for medical treatment at one point.
“I did have a staph infection and developed horrible sores all over my legs,” Mr. Robinson said.
Other obstacles include storms that blow him off course and encounters with sharks.
“They’re usually friendly… but they bit the oars while I was rowing,” he said.
Robinson spent the first 160 days of his voyage at sea before coming ashore at Penrhyn Island in the Cook Islands.
It was there that the locals nicknamed him Mahuta-hoehoe-asanga – ‘the warrior who paddled from afar’.
Although Mr. Robinson had a satellite phone for security, he did not use it for the first 75 days.
Mr Robinson (pictured with HR staff) thanked the cruise line for rescuing him after his boat capsized
Mr. Robinson built the 23-foot boat he used to cross the Pacific Ocean (pictured, Mr. Robinson’s boat from the P&O ship)
“A lot of people listen to songs and podcasts all day, but I decided I wanted the experience to be as simple and pure as possible,” he said.
The attempt to rescue Mr Robinson was organized by the New Caledonia Marine Rescue Coordination Center with the help of French naval aircraft.
This is the second time in two weeks that P&O has provided assistance to a ship in distress in the South Pacific.