Rescuers have described the complexities involved in saving a man who had been plucked from the debris of a capsized fishing boat in remote waters off WA's north-west coast.
Nine Indonesian fishermen are believed to have drowned in the incident near Ashmore Reef, about 630 kilometres north of Broome.
Just three crew members have been rescued from the wreck, after the Australian Maritime Safety Authority diverted a Singapore-flagged bulk carrier to the scene on Monday.
One of those crew members was winched from the bulk carrier by a PHI International rescue chopper, and transferred to Broome Regional Hospital in a critical condition.
Damian Baxter was one of the rescue crew aboard the Broome-based rescue chopper, and described rescuing the man.
"He was in a bad way," he said.
Rescue area impacted by tropical cyclone
PHI International runs specialist rescues up WA's north coast, and commercial manager Gordon Watt said the rescue of the man and two of his fellow crew members had been extremely complex.
"The personnel may have actually been in the water for up to 48 hours," he said.
"They were clearly exhausted, dehydrated and suffering the effects ... of that environment."
Mr Baxter said the crew enjoyed a "momentary sigh of relief" when the man, believed to be in his 50s, was successfully winched from the bulk carrier.
The area of the rescue, about 180km west of Ashmore Reef, has been impacted by Tropical Cyclone Charlotte forming off the Indian Ocean, making conditions challenging for the PHI crew, a Singapore-flagged bulk carrier and Cairns-based aircraft.
"It's a long way offshore, it was likely to be at night given the timings, and there was a significant coordination between multiple agencies," Mr Watt said.
Expert medical crew worked hard
Mr Baxter said even when the winching was complete, the crew had the difficult task of running the triage of the extremely ill man through to Broome.
"We luckily have a very qualified crew, including state-leading anaesthetists, on board, and were able to undertake some pretty advanced medical intervention," he said.
"There were four of us in the aircraft cabin and we were working hard that whole time."
Mr Watt agreed, and said the three men rescued were extremely lucky to be alive.
The man winched from the bulk carrier remains in a critical condition at Royal Perth Hospital, while the other two survivors have been sent to Darwin for medical treatment.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said in a statement it thanked all involved in the search and rescue.
