Men lost at sea found safe after 22 days

Three men survived for 22 days on a diet of squid and rainwater as their small dinghy drifted in choppy waters off Australia’s north-eastern tip.

John Tabo, 38, his son John, 20, and nephew Tom Tabo, 16, set off from their Murray Island home in a 16-foot fibreglass boat on April 17 to pick up members of a rugby league team on a neighbouring island 40 miles away.

But the trio became disoriented, ran out of fuel and were buffeted by strong winds as Cyclone Monica passed through the Torres Strait – the stretch of water that separates Australia from Papua New Guinea. The storm also hampered search and rescue efforts.

Inspector Russell Rhodes of Queensland Police said they used jerry cans as makeshift paddles and wore metal buckets over their heads to protect themselves from the searing tropical sun.

The officer said they switched off their cell phones for extended periods in order to conserve the batteries, until they had enough coverage to inform family members of where they thought they were.

“They’ve obviously been smart enough to preserve the batteries on these things and yesterday they started generating text messages back to the family members on Murray Island,” he said.

“They used everything that they had in the boat to protect themselves from the elements, particularly the sun, and they’ve cut the plastic jerry cans up to create some makeshift paddles, that took them back toward the direction of Murray Island,” he added.

Mike Lacey from the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Cairns, said authorities winched the trio to safety from a helicopter yesterday after they were found several miles off the coast of Murray Island.

“For what they have gone through they are in a reasonable condition, but they have suffered dehydration and lost a lot of weight,” Lacey said, adding that the father had lost 66 pounds.

“They were pretty well starved. All they had to eat was one squid, but they were fortunate that there had been a lot of rain so they were able to gather rainwater.”

He said they had been treated at a medical clinic on their island and allowed to go home.