Sea Swift crew rescues 16 people from remote Torres Strait island

A group of 16 people including a young baby have been saved by a ship crew after being stranded without food or water on a remote Torres Strait islet. Here’s how the rescue unfolded.

The crew of a Sea Swift ship has saved a stranded group of 16 people including five children, the youngest of which was 12 months old. Picture: Sea Swift

A group of 16 people including a young baby have been saved by a ship crew after being stranded without food or water on a remote Torres Strait islet.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning the Sea Swift ship Fourcroy was mid-voyage within the outer Torres Strait region when an emergency alert came through from the Queensland Water Police.

The crew were notified that a group of people, including young children were stranded in poor conditions on a remote and desolate island known as Cap Islet located 10km northwest of Yam Island.

Yam or Iama Island is itself a remote tiny island located 90kms northeast of the Tip of Cape York midway to Papua New Guinea.

A one-year-old baby is comforted after the ordeal by A Sea Swift worker. Picture: Sea Swift

The skipper of the Fourcroy on being notified of the emergency immediately rerouted the ship and steamed toward Cap Islet where the 16 people including five children and a 12-months-old baby were trapped.

Small boats and the group soon came into view onshore at Cap Islet before the Sea Swift crew dropped anchor on the north side of the island and prepared the rescue tender RIB for launch.

The crew filled the rescue vessel with life vests, food and water before making the trip to the beach.

The group were ferried to the ship in a small RIB. Picture: Sea Swift

In rainy, windy and cold conditions several trips were made to get the stranded people on-board ahead of them being taken into the vessel’s mess hall, provided with food and water and comfort by the crew.

The group was returned safely to Yam Island by the crew of the Fourcroy and the vessel continued on its voyage to deliver essential freight and services to the communities of the Torres Strait.

The group were rescued from Cap Islet in the outer Torres Strait. Picture: Sea Swift

Sea Swift executive chairman Chris Pearce said he was immensely proud of the crew’s quick thinking and the actions of the master to reroute the vessel and head towards the group in need.

“The quick thinking of the master and his crew once they received the call at 5.30am is a testament to the ability and depth of knowledge of the local area”, he said.

“We are so proud of the crew and are glad the stranded group are now back safely ashore on Yam Island.”

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Originally published as Sea Swift crew rescues 16 people from remote Torres Strait island