Ships save asylum-seekers

[Clydee]

Report from LAUREN WILSON AND DEBBIE GUEST The Australian June 23, 2012 12:00AM

WHEN Captain Eric Bilango pulled his merchant ship alongside a capsized asylum-seeker vessel, its red hull was already disappearing and 30 men in lifejackets were being swept into the heavy seas.

After responding to a mayday alert from Australian authorities, Captain Bilango's JPO Vulpecula was the first merchant vessel to arrive at the scene just before 5pm on Thursday.

Conditions were fierce but his crew lost no time and launched rescue craft in a desperate bid to help the survivors.

"We did our best, but the weather, it was very, very rough. It was not so good; we were able to recover about 27 people," the ship's master said.

"We didn't see dead bodies in the water but there were some lifejackets floating around."

Over three gruelling hours, Captain Bilango and his crew pulled 27 Afghan and Pakistani men out of the estimated 200 passengers who were on the boat from the choppy seas, fed them and wrapped them in blankets.

Captain Bilango was modest about his role. "It is our duty to save the lives of people at sea," he said.

His efforts and those of his crew were a key part of a rescue mission that is likely to continue until sunset today. Australian navy and commercial vessels and surveillance aircraft continued to scour the ocean for survivors overnight, but hopes were fading.

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