A TERRIFIED British family were very lucky to escape with their lives after their catamaran became shipwrecked in a remote part of the South Pacific Ocean.

The boat carrying the family of four, including two children aged 13 and 11, was a wreck when it ran aground in heavy seas on Beveridge Reef, a remote and partially submerged atoll more than 900km from the Cook Islands.

The family sent a distress signal after their boat struck the reef about 2.30am on Sunday.

After many frightening hours, they were rescued at daybreak by the captain of a yacht that was the only other vessel in the area.

The captain, Martin Vogel, and his seven-person crew used a liferaft to bring the family to safety after New Zealand officials alerted them to the catamaran’s distress call.

“They were pretty distressed but they’re all sleeping now,” Vogel told the Associated Press from a satellite phone aboard his yacht, the Dona Catharina.

“Honestly, they’re coping remarkably well.”

Geoff Lunt, a senior search and rescue officer from New Zealand’s Rescue Coordination Center, said it was very lucky Vogel’s yacht — which was sailing from New Zealand to the remote island nation of Niue to help study humpback whales — happened to be anchored inside the reef’s lagoon at the time.

New Zealand officials sent an alert to ships after the family on-board the wrecked 15-metre catamaran Avanti activated their distress beacon about 2.30am.

Officials received a call from the Dona Catharina about 20 minutes later, Mr Lunt said.

Vogel said he didn’t know how the family came to be near the reef.

The reef is a notorious spot for mariners, AP reported. Vogal said the lagoon inside the reef could provide calm water for boats but the Avanti had run aground on the opposite side from the lagoon’s narrow entrance.

He said the family was able to grab clothes, passports and a few treasured items when they rescued them.

Associated Press contributed to this report.