 British
rower Jim Shekhdar is back on land and embroiled in a row over the
ownership of his boat, the Hornette.
Mr Shekhdar, 57, arrived in Wellington yesterday on the government-owned
research ship Tangaroa which rescued him from the Southern Ocean three
weeks ago. He was attempting to become the first person to row solo from
Bluff to South Africa. He was two weeks into his journey when he phoned
for help after being hurt when his 7.8-metre fibreglass boat rolled in a
storm 1200 kilometres east of Bluff.
The Tangaroa, operated by the National Institute of Water and
Atmospheric Research, was diverted 350 nautical miles to pick him up.
The rescue was estimated to have cost Niwa several thousand dollars. An
air force Orion was also sent to act as spotter, costing about $100,000.
Niwa is now claiming ownership of the boat in an effort to recoup some
costs. Under international law, it was required to rescue Mr Shekhdar,
but is claiming his boat is now salvage, which it is entitled to. Mr
Shekhdar argued that the boat was not salvage, as it was not abandoned
and still seaworthy.
"Obviously there's a cost to do a rescue like this, but you can't
squeeze blood out of a stone," he said. He was already in debt and could
not get insurance cover for the journey. He met Niwa management
yesterday to try and resolve the issue. No agreement was reached. He had
yet to decide if he would try again to row to South Africa.
Mr Shekhdar also met Maritime Safety Authority officials yesterday. The
authority had earlier threatened to use legislation to stop further
rowing attempts, but director Russell Kilvington said any future
proposal would be assessed on its merits.
A poll of 1765 Stuff readers found most were in favour of making
adventurers, who plan record-breaking journeys, pay their own way.
Stuff readers were overwhelmingly in favour of such people funding their
own endeavours, with 93 per cent of people voting that way; only six per
cent of voters disagreed.
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