Fisherman clung to capsized boat for 11hrs, urinated on hands to keep warm

A fisherman who spent 11 hours clinging to his capsized boat in the English Channel before being rescued by the UK Coastguard has described his ordeal.

Jonny Ronsijns, 50, has spoken for the first time about the tragic accident, in which two other crewmembers died.

Ronsijns’s Belgian-registered vessel capsized several miles off Ramsgate, Kent, on Tuesday night.

“The ship capsized in one, two, three... it was that fast. The worst thing is your colleagues who can’t come with you,” he told Belgian TV.

“It’s a lottery. I’ve got the main prize, they’ve got nothing.”

Ronsijns, from Eernegem, Belgium, said he “heard something” before the ship capsized, but did not know what it was.

“I came up and saw the ship because the lights were still burning underwater. I could orientate myself and swam to the ship.

“You hang on tight and go with the flow and when it goes down, you can climb up.”

The fisherman, who has worked on the sea since the age of 14, said his legs went blue in the freezing water.

“I kept my head warm by pulling my sweater over my head and blowing into it.

“I moved my hands, and if my hands got too cold, I [urinated] on them. It was absolutely freezing.”

A second fisherman was also rescued off the coast of Kent, but later died in hospital.

The search for the third crewmember was called off on Thursday.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency said Belgian authorities will launch an investigation into the incident.