A New Zealand jet skier adrift at sea for more than 24 hours was circled by sharks and battered by two storms before being picked up by a Russian trawler, despite never being reported missing.
Nathan Maclure, 26, was spotted by the Russian trawler on his broken-down jet ski about 13km off the South Island's Canterbury coast on Saturday.
He said that without his quality wetsuit he would probably have died.
On Friday, he was out on his jet ski when it broke down and he was swept away from land by high winds and a strong tide, making it impossible to get back to land and forcing him to spend the night in frigid waters.
Maclure tied himself to his jet ski and weathered two severe storms, enduring hail and wind on Friday night.
He said he danced and sang to keep himself warm and awake.
He was also visited by three sharks before being spotted by the Russian boat which was on its way to Lyttleton, Radio New Zealand reported on Sunday.
He said he was "eternally thankful" that the crew saw him.
Volunteer coastguards picked Maclure up and returned the Christchurch man uninjured to land.
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