Fisherman Swims 12 Hours to Shore to Save His Friends

A fisherman swam 12 hours to reach shore and another survived 30 hours at sea before being rescued by helicopter today after their trawler sank off the Australian coast, rescuers said.

A third fisherman is missing after the trawler hit a reef nine miles (15km) off the east central coast of Australia before dawn on Wednesday and sank.

"I wasn't going to die out there mate," said a sunburnt, dehydrated John Jarratt from his hospital bed after 30 hours in the water clinging to a fish-sorting bin.

His shipmate Michael Williams, 39, crawled ashore near Brunswick Heads on the far north coast of New South Wales after a marathon swim to safety.

"He had pretty bad cuts and bruises to his legs and his arms, he was pretty exhausted, pretty badly sunburnt," said Chris Gort, who helped him on the beach.

Jarratt said he and skipper Charlie Picton, 40, had both clung to a foam cooler or "esky" after the ship went down, but in the darkness they became separated. A search helicopter flew over without spotting them.

A family spokesman, Mark McMurtrie, said: "Every time the esky got a bit too much water in it he'd have to sort of hold Charlie up in one hand and hold the esky up out of the water with the other, and then put it back down so it was full of air again."

Jarratt told friends he would "never" go back in the ocean, local media reported.

He was picked up by a helicopter about 10 miles northeast of the coastal town of Ballina and taken to the district hospital.

"Judging that the second fisherman survived through the night ... we can only hope that the same has occurred with the third," said Roger Fry, a spokesman for the rescue helicopter service.

Fishing trawlers, the surf rescue squad and police were continuing the search for Picton.

Police said they would continue the search until nightfall in the hope that he may still be alive as sea conditions were calm and the ocean temperature was a warm 24 degrees Celsius.

"We hold grave concerns for that gentleman at the moment based on the time the search has been going on," said Superintendent Mark Hutchings of the water police. "However, at this stage we live in hope and we will continue to search."

via Guardian