Fishermen brothers cling to esky off Fraser Island after boat capsized

Brothers are miraculously saved after they were thrown off their boat by a rogue wave and forced to cling to an esky for four hours until help arrived

  • Brothers survived boat capsize by clinging to esky 
  • Rogue wave hit boat leaving them adrift for four hours

Two brothers have survived a freak boating accident by clinging to an esky for four hours while adrift at sea.

The siblings, both aged in their 20s, were fishing on their vessel near Fraser Island, off the south-east coast of Queensland, at about 1.45pm on Saturday.

The pair were then thrown into the water when a ‘rogue wave’ overturned their six-metre-long boat. 

The two men (pictured centre) did not report any injuries from their ordeal but were taken to hospital for observation

The men managed to throw on life jackets and activate an emergency radio beacon before their boat sank.

They clung desperately onto an esky for the next four hours while they waited for help to arrive.  

A rescue team was immediately dispatched via helicopter after they received the emergency signal that had been sent from the radio beacon on the capsized boat.

Crew members worked quickly to decide the safest way of pulling the men out of the water.

They decided to winch a rescue crewman down from the aircraft and into the water, then hoist the brothers onto the aircraft.

Neither of the brothers were injured, but they were flown as a precaution to Bundaberg Hospital for observation.

A pair of brothers had to be rescued after a freak wave capisized their boat off Queensland's Fraser Island on Saturday

A pair of brothers had to be rescued after a freak wave capisized their boat off Queensland’s Fraser Island on Saturday