Australian rower Tom Robinson rescued in Pacific Ocean after 14 hours adrift

An Australian rower spent a terrifying 14 hours adrift in the Pacific Ocean when his world record attempt came to a heartbreaking end on the final leg of his journey.

An Australian rower spent 14 hours adrift in the Pacific Ocean when his world record rowing attempt came to a terrifying end.

Tom Robinson, 24, was less than 2000km from his home city of Brisbane when a rogue wave crashed into and capsized his “uncapsizable” boat somewhere south of Vanuatu, leaving him stranded until a P&O Cruise ship answered his distress beacon.

“I had a line around my waist tied onto the boat that really helped me because waves were constantly breaking over the boat. I was holding on for dear life,” Robinson said.

Tom Robinson hangs off the side of his overturned boat as a passenger cruise ship comes to his rescue. Picture: Supplied

Robinson survived his ordeal suffering from dehydration and sunburn. Picture: Supplied

Robinson had departed the port of Callao in Lima, Peru, 17 months earlier in an attempt to become the youngest person to row solo across the Pacific Ocean from South America to Australia.

He is the second Australian plucked from the Pacific Ocean this year after Sydney man Timothy Shaddock, 54, was rescued in July after months at sea.

Robinson was rescued by the Pacific Explorer about 185km from Vanuatu in co-ordination with New Caledonia’s Marine Rescue Centre, in Nouméa, and a French navy aircraft. The search plane spotted Robinson in the dark, perched on the upside-down hull of his boat, Maiwar, according to Tamu Tapaitau from Robinson’s shore team.

Tom Robinson began his trans-Pacific crossing attempt in July, 2022. Picture: Instagram

Tom Robinson designed and built his boat to be uncapsizable. Picture: Brisbane River Boats.

“I was just sitting there inside the boat contemplating dinner and a millisecond later it was upside down,” Robinson told The New Zealand Herald, who had a reporter on board the P&O Cruise ship when it made a detour to answer Robinson’s call for help.

“With the state I was in, the best option for me was to sit on top of the hull while it was overturned and hold that EPIRB,” he said, using the acronym for an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

New Caledonia’s Marine Rescue Co-ordinator Nicolas Chomard said rough conditions saw waves reach four meters high in the seas where Robinson’s 24-foot, self-made wooden boat flipped on the last leg of his record attempt.

The cruise ship, which was on a nine-day round-trip from Auckland, reached Robinson about 6am. Friday morning. He will return to Auckland with the cruise liner, before flying home next week.

Carnival Australia shared images of Robinson smiling and healthy just hours after being plucked from the ocean suffering sunburn and dehydration.

“We’d like to take this opportunity to thank our crew, led by Captain Alan Nixon, for their efforts to once again rescue a fellow mariner in distress, as well as our guests on board for their understanding,” said a spokesperson for Carnival Australia.

Robinson’s record attempt came on the last leg of the journey began more than a year ago in Peru. Picture: Brad Fleet

Shortly before setting off on the record attempt in July last year, Robinson told The Courier-Mail that he could die in the record-breaking attempt to row 8,000 nautical miles across the Pacific.

“There is a chance, definitely. It’s a solo expedition, so yeah, it’s definitely risky,” he said about the possibility of dying at sea, before adding that his self-designed boat couldn’t be capsized.

“There’s no risk to me or the boat and the boat can go upside down and it’ll turn itself back upright because it’s unstable upside down,” he said.

Hours after the rescue, Robinson was pictured in good spirits with crew of the P&O Ship. Picture: Carnival Australia

Passengers on the cruise ship said Robinson was lucky to be alive, with one of the 2000 guests on board, Jason Ballantyne, adding it was surreal seeing the rescue so far out at sea.

In a statement released by Carnival Australia, Robinson thanked P&O for “everything they have done”.

‘I’d just like to say a huge thank you to all the crew on P&O Pacific Explorer whose seamanship and professionalism ensured a safe rescue,” he said.

“Once aboard, I was treated with the utmost courtesy and kindness by the medical staff.”

Originally published as Australian rower Tom Robinson rescued in Pacific Ocean after 14 hours adrift