Three sailors were rescued off the coast of Australia after sharks repeatedly attacked their inflatable boat.
The men, two from Russia and one from France, were trying to navigate their inflatable catamaran in the Coral Sea when it came under attack. They were heading to Australia from Vanuatu.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said it responded to an emergency alert at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday. They discovered that both hulls of the vessel were damaged from several shark attacks.
AMSA enlisted help from a Panamanian-flagged ship, which was able to complete the vessel and bring the men aboard. A rescue aircraft also responded to the scene.
"The three males were very happy to be rescued, and they're all healthy and well," said Joe Zeller, duty manager at the agency's Canberra response center, according to The Associated Press.
The men are due to arrive in Brisbane, Australia, on Thursday. They're between the ages of 28 and 64.
Zeller said there are several reasons a shark may attack a boat, but that "the motivations of these sharks is unclear."
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