Oakland

Bay Fishermen Rescue Romanian Man Who Fell Off Cargo Ship

A dramatic rescue on the bay was caught on video Sunday as six men on a fishing charter boat pulled a Romanian man out of the frigid water after he had gone overboard from a cargo ship.

The man was wearing a life vest, which likely saved his life, but he had been in the water for about 10-15 minutes and was becoming hypothermic.

For the six fishermen, it was definitely more than a fish story.

"After a day of fishing, we saw something red floating in the water; we thought it was a jet ski," charter boat Captain Joey Gamez said. "A couple of guys grabbed him from right here we threw him a rope. He was floating away from his boat."

Gamez said the man didn’t speak much English. When they asked him how he got in the water, he told them he was on one of "those big boats" and fell off.

The crew figured out he fell from a cargo ship about a mile away, near the Port of Oakland.

The fishermen threw in their coats to warm him up, and then a small rescue boat from the cargo ship appeared to recover him.

Contact Us