Terrified boaters forced to fight hand-to-hand battle with sharks after vessel sank

Three men whose fishing trip turned into a nightmare have described the moment their boat sank, leaving them to fight a desperate hand-to-hand battle with ferocious sharks.

Coastguard crews searched over 1000 square miles before they spotted the three just in time, 25 miles off the coast of Empire, Louisiana.

Gobsmacked rescue crews saw two of the men fending off the sharks as they began the operation.

Two of the three men, who had spent 24 hours in the water after their boat sank on Saturday morning, sustained wounds to their hands from the sharks before rescuers were able to pull them from the water.

“The shark bit the life vest in front of me. I pushed him in the face and that’s where I got these injuries on my hand,” one of the men told CNN.

“I pushed him in the face but he wouldn’t leave, so I took my two thumbs and jabbed him in the eyes and he took off,” he added.

Rescuers combed over 1000 square miles and the men were in the water for over 24 hours before they were pulled to safety (US Coast Guard)

The US Coastguard scrambled boats and helicopters to search for the men after a family member reported they had failed to return from a fishing trip.

The men’s boat sank at around 10am on Saturday, October 8 sparking a desperate rescue effort that saw coastguard teams scour 1,250 square miles, officials said.

Rescuers eventually found the three people in the waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday about 25 miles off the coast of Empire, Louisiana, after their boat sank.

The men were taken to hospital with two suffering hand injuries and one showing signs of hypothermia when rescued, the Coast Guard said (US Coast Guard)

When rescue crews located the trio, they found two of them fending off sharks in the water. A boat crew pulled those two out and a third was lifted from the water by helicopter, the U.S. Coast Guard 8th District Heartland said in a news release.

All three are in stable condition, with two suffering hand injuries and one showing signs of hypothermia when rescued, the Coast Guard said.

The men were flown to hospital where they are said to be in a stable condition (US Coast Guard)

“If the family member had not notified the Coast Guard, and if these three boaters were not wearing life jackets, this could’ve been a completely different outcome,” said Lt. Cmdr. Kevin Keefe, a Sector New Orleans Search and Rescue Mission Coordinator.

“We appreciate the assistance of the boating public, who were instrumental in helping identify possible areas where these boaters could have been operating before the vessel became in distress,” Keefe said.