Complex rescue operation conducted by the Italian Coast Guard over the weekend. There had been no news for days of a man of Spanish nationality who on April 11 had begun a solo voyage from the island of Crete to Sicily aboard a 12-meter sailboat. After receiving information from the rescue center in Piraeus, Greece, and acquiring a satellite signal indicating the possible presence of the vessel 110 miles off Cape Spartivento (about 200 km from the Calabrian coast), the Coast Guard's rescue machine was set in motion, with a plane taking off from Catania, a patrol boat departing from Roccella Jonica and two merchant vessels diverted to the area in search of the vessel. With very bad weather conditions, 40 knots of wind and sea force 5, the "Black Bit" was finally spotted by the Coast Guard aircraft, with its lone navigator who managed to send out light signals to be spotted, only to be reached - in the middle of the night - by the CP311 from Roccella Jonica, which took the unfortunate man on board, finally putting him in safety. After initial care was given aboard the patrol boat, the adventurous sailor was handed over to the 118 medical staff upon arrival at the port of Roccella this morning.
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