Second British rower in Pacific rescue

Published on 10/06/2012 00:00

A SECOND British rower has been rescued from the Pacific Ocean after getting into difficulties during an attempt to row solo from Japan to America.

Lieutenant Charlie Martell, a Royal Engineer Commando serving with the Territorial Army, sent out a Mayday call on Thursday morning after his boat was damaged by 50ft seas during a tropical storm.

He was plucked from the ocean about 700 miles off the coast of Japan on Friday night by a merchant vessel, it emerged yesterday. The MV Last Tycoon was on its way to Canada when it was alerted to Martell’s situation by the Japanese coastguard.

Martell, 41, from Gloucestershire, was able to speak to friends at home from the ship’s bridge to tell them he was uninjured but exhausted.

Adrian Bell, a member of his support crew, said: “He was tired on being picked up, obviously, from having spent 36 hours or so in that emergency state without power on board. But he is uninjured and pleased to be alive.”

Martell was the second British rower to be rescued from the Pacific on Friday. Earlier, Sarah Outen, 26, was picked up by the Japanese coastguard after her boat capsized after it was holed.