A 51-year-old man survived the high seas by holding onto an insulated ice box for four hours after his fishing boat capsized around Con Dao Island off Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province in southern Vietnam on Saturday.

The survivor, Nguyen Thanh Phuong, safely arrived at his home on Con Dao Island at 0:05 on Sunday, according to the island’s police.

Phuong called his wife at 7:52 pm on Saturday, urging her to seek help when his fishing boat was sinking about 10km off the island.

Nguyen Minh Trieu, his younger brother, reported the incident to local authorities, who then dispatched a motorboat to rescue Phuong.

Trieu and some members in the family also used their own motorized boat to look for Phuong with the authorities’ permission.

Trieu’s boat was the first to find Phuong holding onto an insulated ice box drifting at sea between the Cau and Bay Canh islets at around 11:30 pm the same day.

According to Phuong’s account, he was quick to take his cellphone to call his wife and pour out all the ice and fish stored in the ice box to use as a float a few minutes before his fishing boat completely sank.

He also managed to drop the anchor to prevent the boat from drifting.

After that, Phuong clung to the insulated ice box and swam toward the Bay Canh islet’s lighthouse, but after a while, he cramped and had to let his body rest. 

Fortunately, Phuong had a flashlight on his head so rescuers could detect him.

Phuong’s physical and mental health was stable during the rescue even though he was very cold.

The Con Dao Island police are investigating the incident.

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