Sydney, Jan 21 : Two men from Myanmar told rescuers they survived almost a month floating in a large icebox in shark-infested waters off northern Australia after their fishing boat sank, authorities said Tuesday.
The men, both in their twenties, were spotted in the commercial-size cooler on Saturday by a routine aerial border patrol over the Torres Strait off Cape York, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.
“The two survivors indicated that they were Burmese (from Myanmar), that they had been on a 30-foot (10-metre) wooden fishing vessel that had sunk around December 23, and that they had been adrift for 25 days,” AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins told reporters.
The men described seeing the other 18 crew members on board the Thai boat go into the water without life vests or any flotation devices as it sank, she said.
There was no chance they could have survived until now and the agency had decided no search would be launched, Jiggins added.
The boat is believed to have set off from Thailand with Myanmar and Thai crew members, but there were no immediate details on when they left or where the boat sank.
When the two men were pulled from the water they were in “reasonably poor” health, said rescue helicopter spokesman Peter Heath. Dehydrated and exhausted, their first words were, “could we have a drink?’” Heath said.
“They were certainly thirsty,” said pilot Terry Gadenne. “They put down two litres of water really quickly each.
“They had some boils or damage of some sort to their legs and that was given first aid and we flew straight to the hospital from there,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Wild storms had lashed the far north coast in the past few weeks, Gadenne said, with a cyclone further south whipping up high winds and heavy rains.
“There have been some strong winds feeding into the cyclone and lots of storm and rain, which might have kept them going as far as water’s concerned,” he said.
It was unclear, however, what the men ate while adrift. One report suggested they fed on fish left in the cooler, but rescuers and staff at Thursday Island Hospital in northern Queensland were unable to give details.
A hospital spokeswoman said only that the men were in good condition and had been discharged earlier Tuesday.
They have been put up in a motel until their identities and intentions can be established by the immigration department, a spokesman said.
“We are sensitive to the peculiar circumstances of the men’s arrival in Australia,” he said. “Nevertheless they have no documentation and it is necessary to establish their identities.”
There was no indication the men were part of a group of hundreds of migrants from Myanmar’s Muslim minority Rohingya reportedly set adrift in Thailand recently, some of whom have been rescued around India and Indonesia.
The immigration department spokesman said it was too early to say whether the men would seek asylum to remain in Australia.
“Obviously if they did raise claims of protection of course they would be considered,” the spokesman said. “Or if they wanted to return home we’d try to facilitate that as well.”Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Myanmar Men Survive 25 days at Sea in Icebox
Sydney, Jan 21 : Two men from Myanmar told rescuers they survived almost a month floating in a large icebox in shark-infested waters off northern Australia after their fishing boat sank, authorities said Tuesday.
The men, both in their twenties, were spotted in the commercial-size cooler on Saturday by a routine aerial border patrol over the Torres Strait off Cape York, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said.
“The two survivors indicated that they were Burmese (from Myanmar), that they had been on a 30-foot (10-metre) wooden fishing vessel that had sunk around December 23, and that they had been adrift for 25 days,” AMSA spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins told reporters.
The men described seeing the other 18 crew members on board the Thai boat go into the water without life vests or any flotation devices as it sank, she said.
There was no chance they could have survived until now and the agency had decided no search would be launched, Jiggins added.
The boat is believed to have set off from Thailand with Myanmar and Thai crew members, but there were no immediate details on when they left or where the boat sank.
When the two men were pulled from the water they were in “reasonably poor” health, said rescue helicopter spokesman Peter Heath. Dehydrated and exhausted, their first words were, “could we have a drink?’” Heath said.
“They were certainly thirsty,” said pilot Terry Gadenne. “They put down two litres of water really quickly each.
“They had some boils or damage of some sort to their legs and that was given first aid and we flew straight to the hospital from there,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Wild storms had lashed the far north coast in the past few weeks, Gadenne said, with a cyclone further south whipping up high winds and heavy rains.
“There have been some strong winds feeding into the cyclone and lots of storm and rain, which might have kept them going as far as water’s concerned,” he said.
It was unclear, however, what the men ate while adrift. One report suggested they fed on fish left in the cooler, but rescuers and staff at Thursday Island Hospital in northern Queensland were unable to give details.
A hospital spokeswoman said only that the men were in good condition and had been discharged earlier Tuesday.
They have been put up in a motel until their identities and intentions can be established by the immigration department, a spokesman said.
“We are sensitive to the peculiar circumstances of the men’s arrival in Australia,” he said. “Nevertheless they have no documentation and it is necessary to establish their identities.”
There was no indication the men were part of a group of hundreds of migrants from Myanmar’s Muslim minority Rohingya reportedly set adrift in Thailand recently, some of whom have been rescued around India and Indonesia.
The immigration department spokesman said it was too early to say whether the men would seek asylum to remain in Australia.
“Obviously if they did raise claims of protection of course they would be considered,” the spokesman said. “Or if they wanted to return home we’d try to facilitate that as well.”
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