The crew of the Liberian-flagged tanker Horten, working with U.S. Coast Guard watchstanders in San Juan, rescued a Belgian ocean rower late Wednesday after his vessel capsized in heavy seas more than 1,100 nautical miles east of Puerto Rico.
Benoit Bourguet, 47, was competing in the World’s Toughest Row, a 3,000-mile solo race from the Canary Islands to Antigua, when two rogue waves struck his single-man rowing boat, City of Liverpool, in 13- to 15-foot seas. The impact capsized the vessel, forcing Bourguet to abandon ship and deploy his life raft.
The rescue operation began around 2 a.m. when Coast Guard Sector San Juan received an emergency distress signal from an unregistered 406 MHz EPIRB, followed shortly by a second alert from Bourguet’s personal locator beacon. Repeated attempts to reach Bourguet through race coordinators were unsuccessful, prompting the Coast Guard to issue an Automated Mutual-Assistance Vessel Rescue (AMVER) call to nearby commercial shipping.
The 1,092-foot tanker Horten, en route from Germany to offshore Guyana, responded to the alert and diverted more than 100 miles, transiting for over 12 hours to reach the reported position. Guided by updated beacon data, the crew eventually spotted a life raft in heavy seas and confirmed Bourguet’s presence.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member