At 9:15 am (NT time) Monday morning, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was contacted by CareFlight Northern Territory (NT) and informed that a crew member on a fishing vessel had been bitten by a sea snake and was in urgent need of medical evacuation.
The trawler is located in Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, about 360km south-west of Darwin.
AMSA tasked the LifeFlight rescue helicopter from Truscott Airbase in Western Australia, which arrived at the location at 11:45 am (NT time) and winched the patient from the trawler.
The LifeFlight helicopter has transported the crew member to Truscott, where they will be met by a Royal Flying Doctor Service aircraft for onward transfer to Broome for treatment.
The AMSA Cairns-based Challenger was also on the scene to provide support.
