SYDNEY, July 31 (Xinhua) -- An Australian man has been rescued by a China-bound transport ship after spending three days adrift at sea off the Solomon Islands, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported on Wednesday.
Tony McCracken was sailing from his home port in the Australian state of Queensland to the Solomon Islands when his vessel was badly damaged by a storm, sending him adrift.
"I was quite concerned, as I'd been giving calls out for a couple of days and had no response," McCracken told the ABC.
Eventually, the sailor was picked up by a freighter ship on its way to China from New Zealand, before being handed off to a rescue crew operating out of Bougainville.
"I received an email late Sunday afternoon that there was a man drifting about 60 nautical miles from the Solomon Islands," rescue crew member, Sam Mark told the ABC.
"There was a gale wind warning ... strong winds had broken the cover off the sailing boat and the waves were breaking into the boat."
McCracken was transporting over 20,000 U.S. dollars worth of medical and other supplies which he planned to deliver to a community hospital, all of which was lost in the ordeal.
Despite being relieved to be back on dry land, McCracken said that once he has recovered he would like to attempt the journey again.
