Not taking the piss, marooned NT blokes survive croc attack

Two ‘traumatised’ men survived three days on a mud-soaked mangrove island circled by crocs.

UPDATE: Two ‘traumatised’ men survived three days on a mud-soaked mangrove island circled by crocs by drinking their own urine mixed with Berocca.

Police Territory Support Division Superintendent Shaun Gill said the rescue of two 32-year-old men was one of the most “horrific” incidents in his 30 year career.

A four-day fishing trip collided with disaster only 90-minutes into their journey when their boat hit a submerged object in the Daly River near Clear Creek on Thursday.

Within seconds the boat started to sink, leaving them floundering in the croc-inhabited waters.

“One male attempted to swim as fast as he could and other male stayed and tried to grab anything,” Supt Gill said.

“While this happened, a crocodile tried to attack... (it) went for him, swam up towards him and he had to throw objects at it to keep alive.”

“There were a few times where the crocodile ducked under the water while they were swimming... (he) thought they were going to get done.”

“(But) he said: ‘There’s nothing you can do but remain calm, try and get to the bank’.”

Police Territory Support Division Superintendent Shaun Gill said the rescue of two 32-year-old men was one of the most “horrific” incidents in his 30 year career.

Supt Gill said the pair survived the extreme heat without food and fresh water or their phones or emergency beacons.

“They had no water to drink to the point where they found bottles on the beach where they tried to drink urine mixed with Berocca,” he said.

Supt Gill said they also licked water off the leaves to stay hydrated and salvaged an Esky lid to make a ‘Help’ sign to catch the eye of rescue planes.

After almost three-days stuck on the mud-soaked mangrove banks their saviours appeared, Daly River Mango Farm owner Shane Taylor and his fishing buddy.

Mr Taylor said he suspected something was wrong when he spotted a swag bag washed up on the shore on Saturday afternoon.

“These young blokes had done the right thing and hadn’t gone too far,” Mr Taylor said.

“They were very glad to be in a boat and headed back home.”

Mr Taylor said while the men were stressed from the ordeal, they had kept their wits.

“They’re bush sort of blokes,” he said.

Their rescuers gave the two men some water and “a few beers” before they drove themselves to hospital.

Supt Gill said the two men were in a bad way following their ordeal, both psychologically and physically.

“When they were located they were completely dehydrated,” he said.

“They’ve been suffering the effects of drinking all that urine, they weren’t exactly sure where they were.

“It’s going to take them quite a while to get over this, but you know through level headed, through calm thinking and through a little bit of luck they’ve got out of this.”

NT Police Territory Support Division superintendent Shaun Gill. Picture: Zizi Averill

Supt Gill said the men had recently purchased an emergency beacon and logged their trip with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority.

He said the incident was a timely reminder to prepare a grab bag with water and survival gear and to check in daily during long trips.

“The messages is that if you do a long trip, you need to report it – once isn’t enough.” Supt Gill said.

“The unfortunate thing for these people was that they went on a four-day trip and sank on day one.

“And if we would have found them by day five, they would have been in serious trouble.’

“It’s a time to remind to everybody that you can do everything you can, but the Northern Territory is an inhospitable place and you need to be as prepared as much as you can.”

EARLIER: TWO men spent days marooned on an island using their esky lid as a makeshift ‘Help’ sign after their boat sank in croc infested waters.

A Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency spokesman said two men left for a boating trip on the Daly River, 233km southwest of Darwin, on Thursday, November 11.

He said the men were making their way from the Daly River Boat Ramp toward Anson Bay when they struck a submerged object causing the boat to sink within seconds.

Unable to trigger their emergency beacon or retrieve their mobile phones, the men swam against the tide to a nearby island.

There they made a ‘HELP’ sign using the lid of a cooler, and waited.

The men spent two nights waiting for help, without any food or freshwater.

On Saturday morning, another vessel was in the area and the skipper came across some debris from the sunken craft before finding and rescuing the stranded men.

They were taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for assessment and discharged the same evening.

Water Police Section Acting Sergeant Troy Harris said the men were extremely lucky to have survived the two-day ordeal.

“The men are very lucky to have survived this ordeal, given the remoteness of the area, the presence of saltwater crocodiles and the extreme heat at this time of year,” Sgt Harris said.

Sgt Harris said the incident highlighted the need for a ‘grab bag’ for safety gear when boating.

“Because the unexpected can happen, and it can happen in a matter of seconds,” Sgt Harris said.

“It appears the men had taken every safety precaution prior to this trip.

“They had a registered EPIRB with them and the skipper had registered their trip with AMSARC, with an expected return date of Sunday 14 November, so they were not considered overdue.

“When they got into trouble, their safety equipment was not readily accessible in the short time they had before sinking.

“They swam directly for the nearest land and made efforts to attract attention. Importantly, they stayed put.

“We especially commend the skipper of the rescue vessel for saving these two men.”