By Gemma Daley
Jan. 20 (Bloomberg) — Australian maritime authorities rescued two Myanmar fishermen who survived almost a month at sea floating on a portable industrial ice box.
A Coastwatch flight located the men, aged in their 20s, 60 nautical miles (110 kilometers) northwest of Horn Island off the northern coast on Jan. 17, Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman Tracey Jiggins said today.
The men were winched from the water and said their 30-foot fishing boat sank on Dec 23. Their 18 colleagues were in the water without floatation devices and the men were unsure of where the boat had sunk, she said.
“It’s amazing they had survived that long,” Jiggins said in a phone interview in Canberra. “We believe the other men from the boat didn’t survive.”
The men have been receiving medical care in Christmas Island Hospital, Jiggins said.
They will be released from the hospital today and detained until they are identified, Immigration Department spokesman Sandi Logan said.
“Two immigration officials and a detention services officer are traveling there today and these men will be detained as they have no form of identification,” Logan said in a phone interview in Canberra. “We have to determine who they are and what their intentions are.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Gemma Daley in Canberra at gdaley@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: January 19, 2009 20:16 EST
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