VOA · As It Is
Intermediate · B1–B2learner speed3:422025-03-07public domain
As It Is is VOA Learning English's daily news magazine. Each report covers a current story in clear, learner-speed English with a controlled vocabulary — the closest thing to real news broadcasts that intermediate learners can fully digest, and ideal raw material for dictation.
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01A Lithuanian rower attempting to cross the Pacific Ocean has been rescued by an Australian warship after hitting stormy waters off the coast of Queensland State.
02Royal Australian Navy officer Justin Jones said in a statement that Orimas Moskus was brought aboard the warship on March 3.
03The 44-year-old adventurer began his trip alone in October from San Diego, California.
04He made it to within 740 kilometers of Australia's mainland before running into a tropical cyclone.
05Australia's Maritime Safety Authority organized the rescue.
06It said the enclosed boat that Moskus traveled in was mostly destroyed by the powerful waters.
07He was only able to recover a few personal belongings from the boat.
08Moskus was stranded for three days in the Coral Sea, east of Queensland's coastal city of Mackay.
09His goal was to make it from California to the Australian state's capital, Brisbane.
10The whole distance is about 12,000 kilometers.
11The rower turned on an emergency signal while experiencing stormy seas fueled by 80 kilometer per hour winds caused by Tropical Storm Alfred.
12That led to rescuers establishing radio contact with Moskus.
13Moskus reported he was fatigued, the team said.
14Navy officials said the warship was taking Moskus to Sydney in New South Wales.
15Rowers traveling by themselves have crossed the Pacific Ocean nonstop in the past.
16Moskus was attempting to become one of the few to cross the sea alone and without stopping.
17Peter Byrd of Britain became the first to do so in 1983.
18He rowed from San Francisco and was pulled behind another boat for the last 48 kilometers to the Australian mainland.
19Even though he did not complete the whole trip alone, he is considered to have rowed close enough to Australia to have made the crossing.
20Fellow British citizen John Beedon rowed from San Francisco to the Queensland city of Cairns in 2015.
21He is considered by some to have made the first successful crossing.
22Australian Michelle Lee became the first woman to successfully make the crossing in 2023.
23She rowed from the Mexican coastal city of Ensenada to Port Douglas in Queensland.
24Another Australian, Tom Robinson, attempted to become the youngest to row across the Pacific in 2022.
25He was 24 years old at the time.
26During his trip, Robinson took a rest in the Cook Islands.
27He set out from Peru and spent 265 days at sea before he was rescued off the southwestern Pacific nation of Vanuatu in 2023.
28I'm Jill Robbins.
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