A Russian man who had been adrift in a small rubber boat for more than two months in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s far east has been rescued.
Officials said the man, named by Russian media as Mikhail Pichugin, 46, was found by a fishing boat crew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from where he set sail in early August. The bodies of his brother and 15-year-old nephew were reportedly found on the boat.
According to Pichugin’s wife, the three went out to sea to watch whales and took with them two weeks’ worth of food.
She told Russia’s state-run Rianovosti news agency that his weight may have been a factor in his survival. She weighed 100kg at the time of her departure, but reports say she weighed only half that when she was rescued 67 days later.
“We don’t know anything yet. We just know that he’s alive… It’s some kind of miracle!” she told the Russian agency.
She also said her daughter was supposed to go on the ill-fated trip but decided she wanted to go home.
Lia said a helicopter search after they were reported missing found no trace of the three.
The vessel was spotted on Monday drifting alongside a fishing boat in the Sea of Okhotsk off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia’s far east, Russian news agencies said.
A video posted by prosecutors shows a bearded man wearing a life jacket screaming at the fishermen that he has “no strength left” as he is taken to safety. has been done.
He was named Mikhail Pichugin, 46 years old, by Leah. The bodies of his brother Sergei, 49, and nephew Ilya were still on board.
As for why they were able to survive so long in the Sea of Okhotsk, the coldest region in East Asia, a representative of the Far East branch of the Russian Seafarers’ Union suggested that the fish supply may have had a role.
Nikolai Sukhanov told Ria Novosti that in such conditions it is possible to survive by catching fish while scraping together the food left on the boat.
Pichugin is currently recovering in hospital, where his condition is described as “mostly stable” by doctors.
Prosecutors announced they would open a criminal investigation, saying the small boat would be inspected and investigators working to determine the circumstances of the incident.
This is not the first time a castaway has been found after being adrift for days. Experts told Rianovosti that in 1960, four Soviet soldiers survived for 49 days on a small boat in the Pacific Ocean before being taken to a U.S. aircraft carrier.
