When the crew of a fishing vessel spotted a tiny pontoon on radar, they initially thought it was a buoy or a piece of scrap metal, but to be sure, they turned on a searchlight and were shocked to see Pichugin.
He did not immediately tell how he managed to survive in the Sea of Okhotsk, the coldest sea in East Asia and famous for its storms, and how his brother and nephew died. According to press reports, the crew of the ship that rescued Pichugin found their bodies tied to the boat to prevent them from being washed out to sea.
When Pichugin was rescued, his boat was drifting about 11 nautical miles off the coast of Kamchatka, about 1,000 kilometers (about 540 nautical miles) from the point of departure on the other side of the Sea of Okhotsk.
The recording published by the prosecutor’s office shows an emaciated man in a life jacket shouting desperately “come here!” and the crew working to pull him to safety.
“I have no strength left,” Pichugin said as he was taken to safety.
Prosecutors said they had opened an investigation into the incident on suspicion of violating safety rules that resulted in death.
Pichugin was taken to the emergency department of Magadan Hospital. Chief physician Yuri Lednev told reporters he was suffering from dehydration and hypothermia, but his condition was stable.