Russian rescue after ten weeks adrift in a boat in Siberian seawater

A Russian man has been rescued from an inflatable boat after drifting in the frozen sea of ​​Okhotsk for 67 days. Two other passengers did not survive, Russian authorities report.

According to Russian media, the survivor is 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin. He went out to sea at the end of August with his 49-year-old cousin and his 15-year-old son to watch whales. It seems that the boat’s engine failed at some point, leaving them stranded off the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia.

The crew of a fishing boat noticed the inflatable boat containing the bodies of his nephew and son, and the remaining Pitchugin. At first, the fishermen mocked the ship for a pile of floating rubbish, but then the distressed person on board started asking for help.

The fishing boat crew captured footage of the rescue:

The wrecked man was hospitalized after being rescued. He has lost 50 kilos of weight. At first he weighed 100 kilos, which is probably why he survived. According to the treating doctor, he suffered from dehydration and hypothermia, but the condition of the 46-year-old man is stable.

The man’s wife told Russian state news agency RIA Novosti that the three had enough food for two weeks when they left, as well as warm clothes, life jackets, flares and nearly 20 liters of water.

Pichugin himself has not yet said anything about how he managed to survive in the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, the coldest sea in East Asia and famous for its stormy weather. The local prosecutor has opened an investigation into the death of his fellow passengers. Possible violations of safety regulations are also being investigated.

The fishermen found the bodies of the cousin and his son tied to the boat. Pitchugin had done this so that they would not be swept away by the waves. Pichugin’s wife says that her husband is still alive “a kind of miracle.”

Last year an Australian sailor was stranded for more than two months work up with his dog. The rough seas damaged their boat and electronics, leaving them completely cut off from the outside world. A sailor and a dog managed to survive.