A Russian seaman who survived a collision off Lantau Island told yesterday how he spent six hours trapped in a sunken dredger 30 metres under water and was left with just 5cm of air before forcing his way out.
Chief engineer Viktor Larin, 51, was one of seven survivors from the dredger, which collided with a container ship and sank west of Ma Wan on Tuesday night.
Seven other crew members, including two Hong Kong men - Chan Sing-tong, the captain and a former assistant marine officer, and Tso Pak-kuen - are missing, feared dead.
The body of a Russian crewman, 49, was found off Brothers Island yesterday, about 4km from where the dredger A.M. Vella and the 13,000-tonne container ship Kota Hadiah collided.
Mr Larin, who is married with a daughter, said he and another engineer were leaving the engine room when the collision happened shortly before 10pm.
'Our boat shook badly,' he said from his bed in Tuen Mun Hospital, where he is recovering from leg and arm injuries.
'I fell down, rolled into the captain's cabin. Once I was inside the cabin, the doors closed and water started coming in through the sides of the door.'
