Brisbane man Tim Robinson, rowing across the Pacific, found naked in the ocean by cruise ship

Tom Robinson’s 24-foot rowing boat capsized near Vanuatu during rough weather early on Thursday, sparking a frantic search-and-rescue mission.

The 24-year-old managed to activate his EPIRB – an emergency position indicating radio beacon – alerting the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

A plane in Noumea, New Caledonia was dispatched to look for the man and he was spotted just before dawn, standing on the upturned hull of his vessel, the Maiwar.

His father received a call at about 5pm on Thursday informing him of the situation.

“Subsequently a cruise ship, Pacific Explorer, made a detour from its planned course to pick up a naked [Tim] who climbed a rope ladder to reach the deck,” Mr Robinson’s family said in an update to his travel blog.

“Soon after, and some 13 hours since his EPIRB was activated, he rang his family at home. He was being checked in the sick bay and sounded well after a precarious night.”

Mr Robinson told them an “unexpectedly large wave came through the main hatch and flooded the cabin”.

His relieved family wrote: “Our sincere thanks go to the Australian, New Caledonian and Vanuatuan authorities who all had important roles to play in his rescue; and to the captain and crew of Pacific Explorer who literally went out of their way to pick up Tom.”

He had set out on 1 October from Luganville in Vanuatu to begin his two-month final leg home to Australia.

“This is going to be the make-or-break leg,” he told the ABC in an interview late last month.

He began his journey in Peru more than a year ago, aiming to become the youngest person to cross the Pacific. His first leg saw him spend 160 days at sea before reaching Cook Island.

The time since has been rough, he told the ABC, with illness and close encounters with sharks, some of which bit at his ores.

“I did have a staph infection and I got these awful sores all over my legs.”

He was due to arrive in Cairns in December.