Seasick sailor rescued off Rügen in joint operation

A joint operation involving the German Navy, air rescue, and sea rescuers successfully evacuated a severely seasick sailor from a sailboat off the coast of Rügen, Germany.

The emergency occurred on Thursday afternoon, approximately 37 kilometers east of Rügen. The German Maritime Search and Rescue Service (DGzRS) reported that the entire operation, from the initial unclear distress call to the sailor's evacuation and care on land, took less than four hours.

Challenging conditions, including fresh winds and waves up to 2.5 meters high, complicated the rescue. A doctor and a paramedic had to be winched from a helicopter onto a sea rescue cruiser. From the cruiser, they used a dinghy to reach the sailboat, where they stabilized the patient before transporting him to Sassnitz.

Upon arrival in Sassnitz, the sailor was handed over to a waiting ambulance. Meanwhile, the German Navy's mine-hunting vessel, the Bad Bevensen, took the sailboat in tow, with the second sailor on board, and headed back towards Rügen.