A man who was stranded at sea for 67 days on his rubber dingy has miracously been found alive after surviving the "icy, stormy sea".
Mikhail Pichugin, 45, was spotted by fishing vessel Angel after his engine failed on his boat two months ago. Sadly, his elder brother and nephew both died after the "whale-watching expedition” went wrong.
The malfunction happened on their way back from the excursion on August 9, in the stormy Sea of . The 15ft vessel, which was described as an "uncontrolled boat" drifted for months.
Mikhail was found in a "satisfactory" condition on the as his relatives, Sergey Pichugin, 49, and his son Ilya, 15, were discovered lifeless. In his words since being found, Mikhail said "strength is low", when the vessel pulled up beside him.
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Mikhail was taken on board by the crew of the vessel Angel after the nighttime rescue. The trawler is now heading to the port of Magadan. He had lost 50kg in weight but was deemed to be doing ok.
“When they said Misha [Mikhail] was alive, I thought we were waiting for a miracle, and it happened,” his 38-year-old ex-wife Ekaterina Pichugina told KP-Irkutsk. "After 4am the captain of the on which Misha was being taken to Magadan called me….
“The captain says that Misha received medical assistance. His condition is satisfactory. However….he lost 50kg, half his weight.” He is a keen fisherman but has not yet told how he survived for so long.
The relatives were on a return journey from the remote Shantar Islands, the waters of which are a feeding ground for whales, to Okha, on largest island Sakhalin, a journey which should have taken several days.
When they set off, they had on board warm clothes, life jackets, flares, a small supply of food and 20 litres of drinking water. In the event, after the Baykat 470 M catamaran-typelost the use of its Honda engine, the vessel drifted at least 625 miles, and was found some 14 miles off the village of Ust-Khairyuzovo, on the Kamchatka peninsula.
rescuers had looked for the trio to no avail and after a month evidently decided they were unlikely to survive in a sea known for its storms. Local experts are astonished at his survival for some 67 days after going missing.
Dmitry Lisitsyn, head of Environment Watch, said: “There are two real miracles here. The first is that such a small, uncontrolled boat was not capsized in the stormy autumn Sea of Okhotsk after more than two months of drifting.
"I can't wrap my head around how this is possible. The certainly went through several strong storms and remained afloat – this is something incredible. The second is that someone on this boat survived.
“The fact that two people died - a father and son - is very sad, but not surprising. But how the third person - their uncle and brother - could survive in the icy, stormy sea for more than two months is simply beyond comprehension. It truly is a miracle.”
He said: “For over 20 years, I have been travelling the Sea of Okhotsk on an inflatable , and I fully understand what this man went through. But I cannot understand how he managed to survive.”
It is not known when Ilya died or if he reached his 16th birthday on August 27. After he recovers, Mikhail may face the wrath of prosecutors, and a potential jail sentence of up to seven years.
His boat is deemed unsuitable in law for venturing more than two nautical miles from the shore. A criminal case has been opened into potential violation of maritime safety laws. News outlet BAZA said relatives had said the family members had gone to the Shantar Islands to watch whales.
The Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor's Office said: “The vessel was found in the waters of the Sea of Okhotsk off the village of Ust-Khayruzovo in the Kamchatka region. Two people died, one survived, he is receiving medical assistance.” The office confirmed a criminal case had been initiated, reported TASS.
