A sick Russian crewman is in Southland Hospital after being airlifted off a fishing trawler in the Southern Ocean.
The man was taken off the trawler the Ivan Golubet by the Te Anau-based Southern Lakes Helicopters, 282km south-east of Invercargill, yesterday.
Independent Fisheries, which charters the trawler, said the man
suffered from a stomach ulcer and had internal bleeding.
The trawler's doctor had asked for the crewman to be evacuated because his condition was deteriorating.
A hospital spokesman said the man was in a comfortable condition.
- NZPA