NSW:Botany Bay fishermen lucky to be alive

AAP General News (Australia)
04-08-2011
NSW:Botany Bay fishermen lucky to be alive

By Miles Godfrey

SYDNEY, April 8 AAP - Three fishermen are lucky to be alive after their boat sank in
Sydney's Botany Bay, forcing them to swim fully-clothed against a fierce current to a
nearby buoy.

The soaking wet trio spent eight hours perched on the mooring buoy in the chilly darkness,
desperately calling for help from passing vessels.

All their safety equipment sank in the boat.

They were eventually rescued at first light on Friday morning by a passing tugboat.

The tug's crew gave the men, two of whom are thought to have suffered hypothermia,
basic first aid, blankets, food and hot drinks.

They were later taken to Sydney Prince of Wales Hospital, where on Friday afternoon
they remained in a stable condition.

The third fisher, named in media reports as Mark Bancs, 28, from Bankstown, did not
need medical treatment.

"A lot of people went past us during the night and we were screaming for help but they
didn't hear us," he told News Ltd.

"I'm just so relieved I'm here to tell the story and my feet are touching the ground."

NSW Police Marine Area Command, Detective Acting Superintendent Jim Johnson, said the
men were lucky to be alive.

"It was quite cool last night and there was a 15-knot breeze ... which made conditions
quite choppy," he told reporters in Sydney.

"In my opinion they are very lucky, the speed at which the boat sank surprised me."

The drama unfolded on Thursday night just 200m from land at Kurnell.

The men had ended a fishing trip at about 10pm (AEST) when they heard a loud bang at
the stern of their 5.18m half-cabin cruiser.

It sank without trace.

Because of the prevailing conditions the men had no chance of reaching shore.

They were just a short distance away from the buoy, but had to battle against strong
current for 20 minutes before reaching it.

There they spent the night, with the air temperature dropping to around 18 degrees
Celsius, according to Bureau of Meteorology data.

About 6.15am (AEST) on Friday a person in a small aluminium dinghy spotted them.

They in turn managed to alert the crew of the tugboat Warang.

The vessel, owned by the marine firm Svitzer, was on its way out to sea to fetch a
large commercial vessel.

The tug's crew raced to the fishermen's aid and got them on board before transferring
them to a Sydney Ports Corporation vessel which took them ashore.

"They (the tug's crew) do a lot of emergency training, a lot of first aid ... it was
almost by second nature and instinct that they were able to offer assistance," a spokesman
for Svitzer told AAP.

It remains unclear why the boat sank. It's yet to be uncovered from the water and may
now have drifted a substantial distance.

Plans are now under way to find it and assess whether it can be retrieved.

The incident came 24 hours after three fishermen were rescued from the sea off the
NSW central coast after their trawler sank.

The 15.8m trawler went down 70km off Tuggerah at 6.40am (AEST) on Thursday and its
crew was rescued by a passing commercial vessel.

Acting Supt Johnson urged all fishers to take appropriate safety precautions, such
as carrying electronic locator beacons and safety vests.

AAP mdg/tr/jl

KEYWORD: BUOY WRAP

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