Miraculous survival of man who swam for 19 hours after falling from cargo ship when three objects were strapped to his body
A sailor who fell overboard from a cargo ship five miles off the Australian coast and miraculously survived 19 hours in the water had his wallet, ID and cigarettes strapped to him.
The crew member fell from the bulk carrier Double Delight, which was off Newcastle, about 11.30pm on Thursday and swam through the night and most of Friday.
It has now been revealed that the man, aged in his 20s, was first spotted by two fishermen on Friday afternoon, who pulled him aboard their small vessel a considerable distance south of the ship but still 5km offshore.
One of the two friends, Glen Valaire, happened to be a doctor and started treating the man, who is a Vietnamese national.
“My friend said to me, ‘Glen, Glen, there’s someone in the water.’ It was just an absolute miracle that we came across this man,” Dr Valaire told Nine News.
‘He was so tired that he had to lie down in the back of the boat. He was freezing, had a weak pulse, was super pale and we were worried about him,” said Dr. Valaire.
They headed to shore and paramedics met them at Boatrowers Reserve on Blacksmith Beach in Swansea about 6.30pm on Friday to treat the man, a NSW Ambulance spokesperson confirmed to Daily Mail Australia.
Police also arrived and when they searched the sailor, they found his ID, wallet and a pack of cigarettes in a plastic bag tied to him.
The Vietnamese national was reported missing from the cargo ship on Thursday evening and was found five kilometers offshore on Friday afternoon by some fishermen in a small boat who saw him waving his arms (photo)
Dr. Glen Valaire was fishing with a buddy when they saw the sailor in the water
He was treated for hypothermia and was ‘exhausted’ but could talk. Police later discovered that he was carrying his wallet and cigarettes in a plastic bag tied to him
Border Force is now investigating whether he deliberately went overboard.
Earlier on Friday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) was notified by the Newcastle Harbor Master that a crew member from the Singapore-based vessel had fallen into the water.
The AMSA then launched an air and sea search, deploying a Westpac Rescue helicopter from Williamtown and a defense helicopter from Belmont near Newcastle to search the ocean.
Newcastle-based NSW Water Police, Marine Rescue NSW units and a Port Stephens-based Water Police vessel were also called in to assist.
NSW Ambulance paramedic Erin Laughton said it was remarkable to find the man alive and well and that helping a man in his 20s would have helped after being in the water for so long.
“He was conscious, he could communicate with us, he was very cold, he was hypothermic and exhausted – he was absolutely exhausted,” she said.
The cargo ship was moored off the coast of Newcastle on Friday (photo)
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority coordinated the search off the coast of Newcastle
Helicopters were deployed in the search which saw the man found hypothermic on a beach in Swansea and taken to John Hunter Hospital
It turned out that the man was wearing a life jacket.
Ms Laughton added that he did not complain but seemed relieved to have been rescued.
The man suffered from hypothermia and dehydration and was taken to John Hunter Hospital, where he remained on Saturday.
The Double Delight is a 235-meter-long cargo ship built in 2015 that left the Japanese west coast near South Korea on October 19.
