A 34-year-old sailor has described the terrifying moment she was left stranded off the coast of Yemen after her boat caught fire and began to sink, leaving her with a bacterial infection and only rotting food to eat.
Caroline Kneitz was part of a four-person crew sailing from Kenya to Dubai aboard the 12-metre vessel Freya when the journey turned into a 'sailing trip from hell'. The boat suffered a series of malfunctions including a broken rigging, engine failure, a fire, flooding, and finally loss of steering.
Speaking to the Daily Mail, Kneitz said: 'The weather was like a filmset of The Perfect Storm or Armageddon. Five-metre waves and strong winds plus a current that dragged our boat like it was a toy.' The crew sent a mayday signal when they were about 50 miles from the Yemeni island of Socotra.
After discovering that nearby oil tankers and cargo ships were too large to assist, and a Korean navy vessel was a day away, a group of fishermen from Socotra came to the rescue. They towed the Freya for 22 hours to safety. Kneitz described the locals as 'warm and kind' and said they were invited to a local wedding celebration.
