Indian Naval officer Abhilash Tomy, who was badly injured while participating in the Golden Globe Race, will be rescued shortly by a French vessel, a Defence spokesman said Monday.
He said bad weather was creating impediments in reaching Tomy whose vessel was "rolling excessively" in the South Indian Ocean.
The vessel was located by an Indian Navy aircraft Sunday.
"He will be picked up by French vessel Osiris shortly... Weather creating impediments," the spokesman said here.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had tweeted Sunday that Commander Tomy shall be picked up in the next 16 hours by the French vessel.
The minister had also said she had spoken to vice-chief of Naval Staff Vice Admiral Ajit Kumar P regarding the condition of the injured navy officer.
"... The rescue mission is being coordinated with the Australian Navy. The injured officer shall be picked up in the next 16 hours by a French vessel Osiris," Sitharaman had said.
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Tomy would to be brought on board Australian Naval ship HMAS Ballarat, which has already left Perth to rescue him, the defence spokesman said.
The Indian Naval Defence Attache in Australia has been camping in the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC) monitoring the rescue mission, he said.
The Navy has said all efforts were being made to rescue Commander Tomy who had suffered a back injury Friday after his yacht was hit by a vicious storm with 14-metre-high waves mid-way across south Indian Ocean.
"INS Satpura and INS Jyoti are heading at top speed to reach Tomy," the spokesman said.
However, INS Satpura was expected to reach the location only by Friday.
He said the situation was being monitored at the Naval headquarters in New Delhi, as well as by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre at Melbourne, Australia.
The Indian Navy's P8I aircraft, which flew from Mauritius in the early hours Sunday, has located the "mast broken boat rolling excessively."