HALIFAX -- Officials say four people aboard a stranded, storm-battered sailboat off Nova Scotia have been rescued.
Joint Task Force Atlantic tweeted Monday night that the four crew members were hoisted into a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter and flown safely to Halifax.
Capt. Wayne Jarvis, air co-ordinator with the Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre in Halifax, had said earlier that the U.K.-registered vessel was about 240 nautical miles southeast of Halifax.
He said the 15-metre sailboat had been beaten up in the stormy seas, and at 6 p.m. AT was in the "storm centre" with winds up to 50 knots causing high seas.
A photo tweeted by the task force appeared to show the vessel with a torn jib flapping in the wind, although the mainsail looked to be stowed.
An earlier tweet said the sailboat was "disabled."
Several assets, including HMCS Summerside, HMCS Glace Bay and a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft, assisted in the operation.
Les ressources #SAR des @ForcesCanada #NCSMGlaceBay and #NCSMSummerside et un hélicoptère CH-149 Cormorant, ainsi que le Cape Roger un navire de la @GuardeCotiereCAN, un avion du @USCG et un navire d’intérêt a participé à la mission d’aujourd’hui 1/2 pic.twitter.com/NHlTQqNMhy
— JTFA | FOIA (@JTFA_FOIA) December 18, 2018
While sailing home from an overseas deployment, #HMCSGlaceBay & #HMCSSummerside assisted #JRCC, #RCAF CH-149 Cormorant, @CoastGuardCAN Ship Cape Roger, and @USCG aircraft in rescuing 4 people stranded on a sailboat, 240 miles south of NS. #BravoZulu #ReadytoHelp pic.twitter.com/Yqz1bg6gyn
— MARLANT (@RCN_MARLANT) December 18, 2018