A miraculous rescue saw Ruben Mcdornan reunited with his family after the boat he was on capsized and sank, leaving him stranded 6km offshore. / 7 NEWS
It would have been almost impossible to see anything. But the sounds are what will stay with Ruben McDornan forever.
The sole survivor of the Queensland fishing tragedy that has claimed four lives somehow managed to squeeze through a tiny gap in the capsized boat, and managed to get to the surface.
But that was only the first part in his incredible battle for survival.
Capsized trawler survivor Ruben McDornan, his wife Sammy and mum Mardi, leaving the Gladstone Police Station. Photo / News Corp Australia
As he clung to part of the wreckage, the 32-year-old could hear his mates' screams as they too tried to get out of the cabin of their trawler Dianne.
Mr McDornan could do nothing to help. He could barely see as the moonlight was obscured by stormy skies and was raining.
At the same time the part of the boat he was clinging to lurched wildly in the heavy seas whipped up by the storm - making it near impossible for anyone else to scramble out alive.
"The boat would have been lurching and moving in the waves. It would have been pitch-black out there; it was a very dark night with no moon.
"It was rainy and cloudy. He could hear his mates inside trying to get out," Mal Priday, the skipper of the catamaran that rescued Mr McDornan, told Brisbane's The Courier Mail.
Mr Priday said it was a miracle the young man was able to be rescued. His wife, Linda Priday, had heard a panicked cry for help.
It was Mr McDornan, barely above the waves and wearing only shorts almost 6km from the shore.
Queensland Police divers resume their search for four fishermen. Photo / AAP
It took two attempts to get him on board after he slipped off lifesaving equipment the first time.
The first words he said to his rescuers was "I'm so happy to see you guys".
Talk soon turned the fate of his crewmates.
"He was very emotional when talking about the boat and his mates, so we tried to change the subject to get him talking about his family and home," Mr Priday told The Whitsunday Times.
He said the timing of rescue was "remarkable" and could easily not have happened.
"The odds of us being in exactly the right spot going exactly the right speed was one in 10 million. If there was a one or two degree change in course or if we were travelling at a different speed, we wouldn't have met him at the time we did," he said.
"I pulled people out of the water before but have never been in a situation like that in the middle of the ocean in rough conditions with a guy in the water saying 'come and get me'.
"I'm not looking forward to it happening again either."
Floral tributes are seen at the Seventeen Seventy Headland, Gladstone, Queensland. Photo / AAP
The Dianne crew were on their way to harvest sea cucumbers when the tragedy happened about 7.30pm on Monday night. It capsized north of the town of Seventeen Seventy.
Two bodies were recovered from the vessel by police divers on Saturday, with friends confirming one was crewmen Adam Hoffman, 30. Police have not publicly named the second man.
Skipper Ben Leahy, 45, and crew members Eli Tonks, 39, Adam Bidner, 33, Adam Hoffman, 30, Chris Sammut, 34, and Zach Feeney, 28, also died in the accident. Their bodies have not been recovered.
Gladstone Police Inspector Darren Somerville said divers used sonar equipment to find the submerged boat 30m under the water.
The scene was chaotic for divers to work in with mattresses, fridges, freezers, blankets and lifejackets which made it difficult for divers to see.
Police will today begin coastline patrols on land and sea and also use a plane to look for the remaining four victims.