Video and satellite images show that the sharks had torn off much of the stern of the catamaran.
Three men were in distress at sea in the Coral Sea off the northeast coast of Australia after repeated shark attacks damaged their catamaran.
The 9-meter inflatable catamaran was in the open sea, more than 800 kilometers from the city of Cairns, when the sharks attacked.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority received a radio signal from a catamaran in distress after one in the morning. It urgently dispatched a sea rescue plane operating in Cairns and directed a cargo ship operating in the area to the location.
The men were picked up by the Panamanian-flagged cargo ship Dugong Ace and are due to arrive in Brisbane on Thursday morning, the online newspaper Wionews tells. Two Russians and one Frenchman sailed on the catamaran.
Video and satellite images released by the Maritime Safety Authority show that a large part of the stern of the catamaran has been torn away.
– Both hulls were damaged as a result of shark attacks, the maritime safety authority wrote in the announcement.
The catamaran Tion had departed from the island nation of Vanuatu in the southwest Pacific and was bound for Cairns. Further details about the shark attacks have not yet been released.
Source: Reuters