A Russian man has been rescued after spending more than two months on a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk in Russia’s far east.
Officials say a man, identified by Russian media as Mikhail Pechugin, 46, was found by a fishing boat crew about 1,000 kilometers (620 miles) from where he set out in early August. The bodies of his brother and 15-year-old nephew were reportedly found in the boat.
Pichugin’s wife said the three went to sea to watch whales and obtained food supplies for two weeks.
She told Russia’s state-run RIA Novosti news agency that his weight may have been a factor in his survival, as he weighed 100kg when he left on the journey, and reports say only half that weight when he was rescued 67 days later.
“We don’t know anything yet. All we know is that he’s alive…it’s a miracle of sorts!” She told the Russian agency.
She also said that their daughter was supposed to go on the ill-fated trip, but decided she wanted to come home.
Raya said that a helicopter search found no trace of the trio after their disappearance was reported.
The Russian news agency reported that the boat was discovered on Monday while it was floating in front of a fishing boat in the Sea of Okhotsk, off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula, which is located in the far east of Russia.
A bearded man wearing a life jacket was seen shouting at the fishermen: “I no longer have strength,” as he was being transported to a safe place, in a video clip published by the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
He was named by the RIA after 46-year-old Mikhail Pechugin. The bodies of his brother Sergei (49 years old) and his nephew Ilya are still on the boat.
As for how it was able to survive for so long in the Sea of Okhotsk – the coldest sea in East Asia – a representative from the Far Eastern branch of the Russian Mariners’ Union suggested that fish supplies may have played a role.
In such a situation, you can survive by fishing while having the remaining provisions on the boat, Nikolai Sukhanov told RIA Novosti.
Mr Pichugin is now recovering in hospital, where doctors described him as being in a “fairly stable” condition.
Prosecutors said they have launched a criminal investigation, as the small boat is being searched and investigators are trying to determine the circumstances of the accident.
This is not the first time that castaways have been found after several days drifting, as an expert told RIA Novosti newspaper that four Soviet soldiers survived for 49 days on a small boat in the Pacific Ocean in 1960, before they were picked up by an American aircraft carrier.
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