A group of three sailors were rescued around 500 miles off the coast of Australia on Wednesday after their inflatable catamaran was attacked by sharks. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it responded to an emergency beacon at around 1:30 a.m., and arrived at the distressing scene to find both of the 30-foot vessel’s hulls damaged by repeated shark attacks. The agency requested the help of a Panamanian-flagged ship to complete the rescue of the two Russians and one Frenchman stranded on the wrecked boat. “The three males were very happy to be rescued, and they’re all healthy and well,” said Joe Zeller, duty manager at the agency’s Canberra response center. The men, aged between 28 and 64, had been attempting to sail from Vanuatu to Australia when they were attacked. Zeller said the sharks’ “motivations” for the attacks are “unclear.”
