Man rescued clinging to boat in the Atlantic two days after capsizing

A Coast Guard image shows the unidentified man perched on the overturned hull out at sea. EPA

This is the astonishing moment a man was rescued after two days clinging to an overturned boat in brutal Atlantic seas off the coast of Florida — feared to be the lone survivor out of 40 on a suspected human-smuggling trip.

The image released by the Coast Guard in Miami shows the unidentified man perched on the tip of the mostly submerged hull just a few feet out of the water.

He was found by a good Samaritan early Tuesday — having been stuck there since early Sunday when he says the suspected human smuggling boat capsized in “severe weather,” the coast guard said.

The survivor told officials that he was among 40 people who left Bihimi in the Bahamas late Saturday in what the agency confirmed was a “suspected human smuggling venture.”

“No one was wearing a life jacket,” said the Coast Guard, which later announced it would “continue searching throughout the night for the missing 39 people.”

Crews on at least four ships and five aircraft had already scanned an area about the size of Rhode Island on Tuesday after the first rescue.

#UPDATE @USCG crews are still searching. The good Sam notified #USCG Sector #Miami watchstanders, Tuesday, at approx. 8 a.m. after rescuing a man on a capsized vessel. Multiple cutters & aircraft are searching from #Bimini, #Bahamas to #FortPierce Inlet.

More updates follow. pic.twitter.com/kCVQ4LCaTe

— USCGSoutheast (@USCGSoutheast) January 25, 2022

It was not immediately clear how the survivor had been the only one able to cling on when the vessel overturned about 45-miles off the Florida coast.

In his two days stranded, he endured a severe cold front, with winds up to 23 mph and swells up to 9 feet high. Tommy Sewell, a local bonefishing guide, said there were also fierce squalls of rain on Sunday into Monday.

The survivor was brought to a hospital for symptoms of dehydration and sun exposure, the coast guard said. His nationality, as well as the others on the boat, had yet to be determined, the agency said.

Migrants have long used the islands of the Bahamas as a steppingstone to reach the US, and there have been thousands of deaths over the years.

They are mostly from Haiti and Cuba, but some from Colombia and Ecuador were picked up earlier this month.

A Coast Guard boat continues to patrol the water after the suspected human smuggling tragedy.

EPA

It came on the heels of another ill-fated migrant crossing attempt that ended with 32 people rescued from a capsized vessel last Friday, west of Bimini.

In May last year, 12 Cuban migrants perished and eight were rescued after their boat flipped over off Key West, Florida. Then in July, 13 people were rescued after their boat capsized off of Key West, with nine others dying. Nine went missing in the water.

At least 557 Cuban migrants in all have been picked up at sea by the Coast Guard since October, in addition to nearly 7,400 Cubans interdicted during the previous five years, according to the agency.

With Post wires