THE AUSTRALIAN Maritime Safety Authority has co-ordinated a medical evacuation from a fishing trawler in the Great Australian Bight.

On Tuesday night (6 December) the WA Port Authority informed AMSA a crewmember on the vessel had been injured.

AMSA dispatched the RAC Rescue 652 helicopter from Bunbury on a long-range mission to recover the crewmember.

AMSA said the recovery mission is now complete.

“The mission flew about 1000 kilometres and required several fuel stops to reach the fishing vessel, which was about 30 kilometres off the WA coast, near Caiguna,” AMSA said in a statement.

“AMSA’s Perth-based Challenger rescue aircraft was also on the scene providing support to the rescue helicopter.”

The helicopter was to transport the patient to the nearby community of Cocklebiddy, where health authorities were to transfer the crewmember to WA healthcare.