Quote "approx 380nm East of Mackay on Australia's Eastern Coast.
We are forever grateful for the assistance by the aircraft crew from the RCC and the crew of the ship Ocean Lord (coal carrier) during the three and a half hour rescue operation.
We had endured 72 hours in rough seas (3-4 metres) and winds to 35knots with a developing cyclone chasing us."
Mackay is 970 km's north of
Brisbane, the
forecast on the 21st was...
The latest from the BOM.
Tropical Cyclone 3-day outlook for The
Coral Sea
IDQ10810
Australian
Government Bureau of Meteorology
Brisbane
Tropical Cyclone 3-day outlook for The
Coral Sea
Issued at 2:30pm EST on Wednesday the 21st of December 2011 and valid until end
of Saturday
Existing Cyclones in the Eastern Region:
Nil.
Potential Cyclones:
A low situated in the northern
Coral Sea is moving in a south-southeasterly
direction and is expected to develop slowly over the next 24 hours. The system
is then
forecast to turn southeast, further away from the
Queensland coast, late
Friday. During Saturday, the system is likely to continue moving southeast and
transition to an extra-tropical low. On
current forecasts no direct impact is
expected along the
Queensland coast.
Likelihood of a tropical cyclone in the Eastern Region on:
Thursday: High
Friday: High
Saturday: Moderate
Therefore the low, not a cyclone was south and heading south to south east... Can't see how it was "chasing them" It was in fact south of them and heading away, not that it was a cyclone.
The more I read through the information provided the more I am begining to believe they were out of their
depth and panicked. Hopefully some more information is posted proving me wrong