AN Antarctic cruise ship is on its way to rescue a solo round-the-world yachtsman stranded on a life raft in remote waters southwest of Tasmania.
The Frenchman, reported to be 63-year-old Alain Delord who set off at the beginning of October, abandoned his yacht on Friday after it lost its mast and its hull was damaged in rough weather.
He is still battling rough conditions in a life raft as he awaits the arrival of the Orion cruise ship, expected on Sunday afternoon or evening.
The location, about 500 nautical miles southwest of Hobart, is too distant for a helicopter rescue with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) using three aircraft to maintain contact with the sailor until a vessel can reach him.
A language barrier has proven to be an issue in getting information from the Frenchman, although AMSA's Dornier aircraft again made contact with him on Saturday and he did not report any injuries.
"We've had a couple of difficulties in actually getting information from him because he doesn't speak English," AMSA spokeswoman Jo Meehan said.
The Dornier has also been attempting to gain contact with other vessels 100 nautical miles west of the life raft, but their crews don't speak English and the bad weather has meant the vessels' specific call signs can't be identified.
Translators are on board some of the aircraft, including a French-speaking officer to help communication with the sailor, and a Mandarin interpreter.
Translators have also been helping issue broadcasts and messages from the rescue co-ordination centre in Canberra to vessels in the area.
A second life raft containing communications equipment has been dropped to him.
Ms Meehan said the yachtsman was well equipped with safety gear, including a survival suit but was battling unfavourable conditions including large swells, 30-knot winds and the cold.
The Orion, with 100 passengers and 80 crew on board, was returning from Antarctica and heading for the world heritage-listed Macquarie Island when it responded to the call to help.
It is making a 51-hour journey to reach the location.
"It's such a vast ocean down there and very few people go down there," Orion Expedition Cruises spokesman Michael Corbett said.
Ms Meehan said the Orion was the closest vessel and even if a ship had left Hobart, it wouldn't have been able to arrive any sooner.
"We are very grateful to the master and the crew and the passengers of the Orion," she said.
She said authorities had the sailor's co-ordinates through the emergency beacon activated at 1pm (AEDT) on Friday, while additional safety and communications equipment has also been dropped to him.
AMSA says an associate of the sailor contacted them early on Friday morning after the yacht was de-masted.
It says it made contact with the sailor but he did not declare he was in distress at the time and was advised to head towards Hobart.
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