A Russian man has survived a grueling 67 days adrift in a small inflatable boat in the Sea of Okhotsk, authorities reported on Tuesday. The man, identified by Russian media as 46-year-old Mikhail Pichugin, was found next to the bodies of his 49-year-old brother and 15-year-old nephew.
The fishing vessel Angel rescued Pichugin on October 14. The crew originally thought the small boat on their radar was ocean debris. That changed when they turned on their spotlight and spotted the bearded, emaciated Pichugin, wearing a life jacket and calling weakly for help.
“[He was] in a serious condition, thin, but conscious,” Alexei Arykov, owner of the Angel, told state-owned RIA Novosti.
A fruitless search
Pichugin was rescued nearly 540 nautical miles from his departure point on Sakhalin Island. The Russian boater and his family set off on August 9 on a whale-watching expedition, packing only two weeks’ worth of food, water, and supplies. Then the engine on Pichugin’s small catamaran broke down, and the crew lost contact with family. Russian authorities searched by helicopter, to no avail.
After his rescue, Pichugin was transported to a hospital in Magadan, in Russia’s Far East. According to the BBC, the hospital’s chief doctor, Yuri Lednev, said the man was suffering from dehydration and exhaustion but was “more or less stable.”
Mikhail Pichugin’s life raft, aboard the rescue vessel. Photo: Russian Far Eastern Transport Prosecutor’s Office
Rationed supplies
Zarema Ten of the Russian health ministry told RIA Novosti, “One of Pichugin’s key strategies was likely his strict rationing of available supplies…He tried to stretch out his food and water as long as possible. Limiting food intake may have helped to reduce his metabolic rate, allowing his body to function at a minimum.”
“It’s some kind of miracle!” Pichugin’s wife said.
Pichugin lost over half his body weight, shrinking from 100kg to 50kg during the two-month ordeal. He drank rainwater whenever he could.
After Pichugin’s teenage nephew died of starvation, the boy’s father “went crazy,” explained Pichugin, “crying, screaming, and jumping in the water.” He stopped eating and died 10 days later. Pichugin lashed the bodies to the boat to prevent them from washing overboard.
Pichugin himself would not have lasted much longer. “I have no strength left,” he told rescuers as they pulled him to safety, according to a video released by a Russian prosecutor’s office.
Russian prosecutors have opened a case on the incident to determine whether charges of water traffic safety violations and negligence are appropriate.
The ocean has a long and varied history of creating adrift sailors, especially those setting out on small craft. A notable recent example is that of Tim Shaddock and his dog Bella, who were rescued from a three-month ordeal in the Pacific after a storm damaged their small catamaran.
