Fishermen Rescued After Boat Capsize

[mrmoshe]

Fishermen rescued after boat capsize

FOUR fishermen said they were lucky to be alive after their boat capsized off north Queensland today.

Two brothers, their cousin and an uncle were left shivering on top of their overturned 8m catamaran powerboat when one of the hulls began taking on water in rough seas around 4.40am (AEST) today about 130km off Mackay.

“It was so cold, waves were just breaking over us and then there was the wind,” survivor Andy Milosevic told Channel 10.

The CQ Rescue Service chopper reached the upturned powerboat at about 8am (AEST) and winched the four men to safety.

“When CQ came, I forgot I was cold and it was just 'Yeah, save us, save us',” he said.

Another survivor, Nick Lehner, said the radio was working, they could not pump out the starboard bilge, and tried unsuccessfully to bail out the sinking vessel manually.

“It got to the stage where it just flipped and we jumped on the roof (hull) and you know, prayed,” Peter Milosevic said.

Eventually, they managed to dive under the hull to activate an EPIRB (Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon).

They waited another hour for the rescue helicopter to arrive, winch them to safety and fly them back to Mackay for a check-up in hospital before being allowed to go home.

The fishermen said they have no plans for more fishing trips in the near future.