Danes rescued after boat hits whale in Pacific

COPENHAGEN: Eight Danes were rescued after their sailboat capsized due to a collision with at least one whale in the Pacific ocean, authorities said.

A girl on the vessel used a satellite phone to call her father, who alerted Denmark´s search and rescue authority JRCC, the Danish Defence Ministry said in a statement.

The girl told her father that the 51-foot sailboat “had capsized after colliding with one or two whales”, the ministry said, adding that “the eight Danes were safe in the lifeboat”.

They were picked up by a fishing vessel between Peru and French Polynesia and later transferred to a container ship.

The ship is scheduled to reach Papeete in French Polynesia on June 26, according to maritime monitoring site Vessel Finder.