Russian Man Rescued After 67 Days Adrift... Brother and Nephew Dead, Weight Halved to 50kg

Drifted in the Sea of Okhotsk for Two Months, Dramatically Rescued
15-Year-Old Nephew and Brother Passed Away... Survivor Undergoing Treatment

A Russian man drifting in the Sea of Okhotsk relying on a small boat with a broken engine was rescued two months after going missing. On the 15th (local time), foreign media including the AP News and the New York Post reported that a man was found near the village of Ust-Khayryuzovo on the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia's Far East by fishermen. The man's name is Mikhail Pichugin (46), and at the time of discovery, he was drifting on the open sea in a small boat.

A Russian man who was drifting in the Sea of Okhotsk relying on a small boat with a broken engine was rescued two months after going missing.
[Photo by AP and Yonhap News]

His brother and 15-year-old nephew were also on the boat but were already deceased. After receiving a report from the fishermen, the Russian Far East Transport Prosecutor's Office dispatched a team and announced the day before that a vessel was found in the Sea of Okhotsk, stating, "Two people are deceased and one person survived. The survivor is receiving medical support."

Earlier in early August, Pichugin set out on this boat with his brother and nephew from Khabarovsk Krai to begin a voyage for whale watching. Their destination was the village of Oha on Sakhalin Island. However, from mid-August, they lost contact with their family and subsequently drifted at sea in a desperate state for 67 days. Local media reported that when their boat was found, there were only a small amount of food and about 20 liters of water on board. At the time of discovery, Pichugin weighed only about 50 kg, which was nearly half of his weight before drifting.

The AP News reported that the boat was found about 1,000 km away from the original destination. It is still unknown how Pichugin survived in the Sea of Okhotsk, the coldest sea in East Asia, and how his brother and nephew died. Meanwhile, local media reported that the Russian prosecutor's office has launched an investigation into the case on charges of violating safety regulations.