Fishing boss describes bond between trawler survivors and rescuers

Crew of the Amaltal Atlantis rubbed warmth into the bodies of the rescued fisherman and gave up their clothing to keep them warm. Photo / Simon Baker

A fishing industry boss has described the close bond that has formed between his crew and the 45 people they rescued after the sinking of the Oyang 70 in waters off New Zealand.

Talleys deep sea chief executive Tony Hazlett spoke of emotional scenes as the surviving Oyang 70 crew members reached shore in Lyttelton, near Christchurch early today, after the sinking of the Korean fishing vessel left three dead, and another three missing and presumed dead.

The 45 survivors were plucked from life rafts after the Talleys vessel, Amaltal Atlantis, went to their aid about 800km east of Dunedin on Wednesday. Mr Hazlett said the rescue effort was an "exceptionally good job".

"And in my view, they definitely saved the lives of some of those people."

Mr Hazlett said it was fortunate the Atlantis was only nine nautical miles away when it got a mayday call from the Oyang 70, which sank in about 10 minutes. It got to the survivors within 45 minutes, and he doubted they could have survived much longer.

"I'm not a doctor. But the water temperature was seven degrees [Celsius] and there was definitely people showing signs of distress by the time we got to them."

Crew of the Atlantis rubbed warmth into the cold bodies of the rescued fishermen, and gave up their clothing to keep them warm.

"I watched (the survivors) come off the boat this morning," Mr Hazlett said.

"Basically the crew of the Oyang walked through a tunnel - I guess is the best way (of describing it) - of the Atlantis crew, and everyone was hugging everyone. Our crew have formed a bond with them and they were very, very happy to be getting back (to shore)."

Mr Hazlett said the magnitude of what they had done only really struck the Atlantis crew when they saw media coverage of their arrival at Lyttelton.

Reverend Neil Struthers, who helped lead ceremonies upon the arrival of the Atlantis into port today, said the Atlantis crew were very humble. But the rescue effort was "exceedingly dangerous" and it was an "absolute miracle" that 45 people had been saved.

Hyun Choi, whose company chartered the Oyang 70, said the survivors were coping well and were "very healthy" after their ordeal.