Yacht Jim Wallace stranded in the Arafura Sea near the Torres Strait

A man stranded on a yacht near Far North waters called his family from the middle of the Arafura Sea, pleading for help. Find out how they helped from thousands of kilometres away.

RELATIVES of a man whose yacht got stuck in the Arafura Sea near the Torres Strait have described the awful moments they waited to see if their cousin was safe while he was stranded in the water.

Ray and Karen Morris, of Townsville, were heartbroken to get a call from cousin Jim Wallace, of England, who had been travelling in his yacht, the Right Choice.

He was rescued Monday about 6am after he had been stuck for most the night.

“At about 10pm last night my husband, Ray received a phone call from Jim on the satellite phone so it was a bit broken,” Ms Morris said.

“He was crossing from Thursday Island on his way to Darwin and he said Ray ‘can you obtain assistance for me?’ His yacht had been entangled in fishing net lining and they couldn’t free themselves.

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“We didn’t know what to do. Ray rang triple-0 and they put him in touch with several authorities.

“Throughout the night, we had a couple of calls so they got in touch with us. Ray could give them his location because we had been tracking the location.”

Police responded to an emergency marine incident.

Ms Morris said she was so concerned throughout the night

“He had managed to tell us that they weren’t in any danger,” she said.

“But they didn’t have any control of the boat, we were worried I’d have to say that.”

She was even more concerned when he detailed one moment.

Ms Morris said the night was stressful as they couldn’t contact Mr Wallace, they just had to wait for him to get a hold of them.

“Jim told me at 3am they were woken by an Indonesian fishing boat trying to haul in the nets, he tried to make them understand it was entangled but there was a language barrier,” she said.

“They then cut both parts of the net, preventing him from making any progress and leaving him stranded.”

Ms Morris said the drama was the last thing they expected.

“He’s sailing around the world, he set off in June last year went to the Atlantic, through Panama Canal, came from Fiji to Mackay, Townsville, they had a few days here, then went on to Cairns for a few days and they were meant to be going on to Darwin,” she said.

In the end it was a huge relief for the family when they got a call from Mr Wallace to say he had been rescued.

“It’s a good outcome and everything went well,” she said.

“He sounded pretty good. He’s still trailing with that net, not able to start the motor.”

An Australian Border Force spokesperson said the ship HMAS Melville responded to a distress signal in the early hours of Monday, September 12.

“Boat crew from HMAS Melville assisted the sailing vessel and those on board by cutting free approximately 50 metres of net,” the spokesperson said.

“Once freed, the sailing vessel was able to continue on its way. There were no injuries or serious damage.”

Originally published as Yacht Jim Wallace stranded in the Arafura Sea near the Torres Strait