# Man trapped in air pocket in sunken boat rescued after 3 days
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 10, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646 "2013-06-10T19:11:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/1 "2013-06-10T19:11:32Z")
A Nigerian crew member of a tug boat that sank [was rescued](http://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/trapped-for-three-days-under-the-sea-1.1529020#.UbYFDNiGcwf) _three days_ later by a diver conducting a body recovery dive. He survived in an air pocket inside the boat which was 30m (100ft) below the surface.
> [@](#):
>
> What was meant to be a body recovery mission for the South African divers turned into an underwater rescue when, after 60 hours alone in the wreck, Okene grabbed a diver as he swam past, having earlier failed to attract the attention of the first diver down.
[I’ve been that diver](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15393303&postcount=29), but it was mere moments after the boat in question sank. I was hoping to find a situation like this.
But if I was grabbed by a survivor 3 days after the boat sinking I would have made a big mess in my wetsuit! :eek:
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/2 "2013-06-10T21:53:49Z")
I would imagine that a scuba mouthpiece makes screaming awkward as well.
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### Author:  [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/3 "2013-06-10T21:56:07Z")
How much air would there have to be for someone to survive 3 days?
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/4 "2013-06-10T21:57:22Z")
I wondered why my spam folder was empty these past few days.
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/5 "2013-06-10T22:21:51Z")
That’s a great story, though I agree that the recovery diver was probably startled.
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### Author:  [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/6 "2013-06-10T22:29:38Z")
I’m really surprised hypothermia wasn’t an issue (or at least it wasn’t mentioned in the article). What’s the water temperature at 30m? Even if he was out of the water, I assume that he was still pretty wet.
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### Author:  [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)
#### Post date: [June 10, 2013, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/7 "2013-06-10T22:34:31Z")
I thought it was kinda funny that they noted he had plenty of free floating sodas to drink.
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/8 "2013-06-11T00:45:33Z")
Awesome.
> [@Finagle](#):
>
> I’m really surprised hypothermia wasn’t an issue (or at least it wasn’t mentioned in the article). What’s the water temperature at 30m? Even if he was out of the water, I assume that he was still pretty wet.
That’s very variable. But I’d be surprised if it’s above body temperature.
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### Author:  [@Iggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Iggy)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/9 "2013-06-11T01:51:05Z")
It’s not entirely clear exactly where the boat went down, but in tropical waters it is entirely feasible to have the water temperature at 100ft be the same as at the surface. Around here it is 86 F (30C) or so.
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### Author:  [@Tabby\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabby_Cat)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/10 "2013-06-11T02:15:31Z")
I dive in the tropics (Malaysia), and at 100 ft (30m?) It’s about 24C or so. Noticeably colder, but not freezing. I wouldn’t want to be down there for too long without a wetsuit though…
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### Author:  [@Digital\_is\_the\_new\_Analog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Digital_is_the_new_Analog)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/11 "2013-06-11T02:44:00Z")
[This sea surface temperature map](http://www.ospo.noaa.gov/Products/ocean/sst/anal_fields.html) from NOAA has a scale that maxes out at 32.6C. That’s around 90F, which is noticeably less than body temperature. I don’t know if there are other circumstances that would result in warmer surface (or 30m down) water.
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### Author:  [@straight\_man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straight_man)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/12 "2013-06-11T04:22:29Z")
> [@Balance](#):
>
> I would imagine that a scuba mouthpiece makes screaming awkward as well.
I can answer no to that from personal experience, actually.
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### Author:  [@stui\_magpie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stui_magpie)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/13 "2013-06-11T06:48:32Z")
1.5 x 3 metres doesn’t give the volume of the air bubble. but unless the missing dimension was pretty big it’s hard to see how he lasted 3 days without using all the oxygen.
Also interested to note the point about how his body was pressurized and decompress him over 2 days, nice comparison between popping a shaken coke can if they hadn’t.
And I’m betting that diver who got grabbed threw that wetsuit out once he got back on board the boat.😃
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### Author:  [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 7:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/14 "2013-06-11T07:00:08Z")
> [@stui\_magpie](#):
>
> 1.5 x 3 metres doesn’t give the volume of the air bubble. but unless the missing dimension was pretty big it’s hard to see how he lasted 3 days without using all the oxygen.
Hmm, would it be better to exhale back into the bubble, or outside?
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### Author:  [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/15 "2013-06-11T07:48:02Z")
According to this page: [How long would you survive in an airlock?](http://io9.com/5861679/how-long-would-you-survive-in-an-airlock)
The build up of co2 kills you before you’ve depleted the oxygen. So yeah breathing out through a tube going outside the bubble will prolong your life. But anyway sea water absorbs co2 right ? Would the co2 from expiration get absorbed fast enough by the water facing the bubble without you having to breathe out through the bubble ?
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/16 "2013-06-11T09:04:03Z")
I cannot “fathom” that poor diver’s reaction.
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### Author:  [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/17 "2013-06-11T18:11:59Z")
I worked topwater with a recovery team years ago. One of my duties was to observe the bubble trail from our diver on the surface of the water. If the trail never moved then it meant the diver may be snagged and we would send down a second diver to assist. (The first diver knew to keep his cool because of that rule)
We could always tell when a diver found the body. The bubbles would become larger and more frequent. Since most of the time our diver was feeling his way around the lake bed or river bed he would only be able to tell if he found the body if he was touching it. The excitement made him take a few deep quick breaths.
One time the bubbles came up huge and voluminous. Seems our diver discovered the body when he reached into the victims mouth.
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### Author:  [@Laggard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laggard)
#### Post date: [June 11, 2013, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/18 "2013-06-11T19:51:40Z")
There was an around the world sailboat race a few years ago where one participant capsized in the middle of the south pacific.
He managed to survive for a few days on the air that was trapped in the cabin below deck. Amazingly he was found.
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### Author:  [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2013, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/19 "2013-06-12T08:11:05Z")
But how did he grab the diver if he was locked in? Through a window?
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### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [June 12, 2013, 8:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/man-trapped-in-air-pocket-in-sunken-boat-rescued-after-3-days/660646/20 "2013-06-12T08:15:19Z")
> [@coremelt](#):
>
> According to this page: [http://io9.com/5861679/how-long-would-you-survive-in-an-airlock](http://io9.com/5861679/how-long-would-you-survive-in-an-airlock)
>
> The build up of co2 kills you before you’ve depleted the oxygen. So yeah breathing out through a tube going outside the bubble will prolong your life. But anyway sea water absorbs co2 right ? Would the co2 from expiration get absorbed fast enough by the water facing the bubble without you having to breathe out through the bubble ?
Depends on the surface area between the air bubble and the water. The math is beyond me, though.
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