A man was forced to swim for his life after his dinghy drifted into the path of a vast container ship in the Solent.
After appearing to struggle to start the engine of his vessel, the man managed to swim out of the path of the Al-Zubara container just in the nick of time.
The breath-taking scene took place in the strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain.
Onlookers told The Times that the man looked like he had a “death wish” when he became caught out in the middle of the shipping channel yesterday morning off Southampton.
Student Eden East filmed the scene from an Isle of Wight car ferry that was approaching land.
The man was with two friends, who were on another dinghy, Eden said.
It appeared that he was struggling to start the engine of his boat, when the ship, which can carry up to 19,000 containers, came towards him.
“We could see this one boat out there and I thought to myself, ‘He’s a bit brave’,” Eden said.
“He obviously didn’t see it coming.
“Once he did see it you could see him start panicking and trying to start the engine on his dinghy — but it wouldn’t start so just jumped in.”
Eden said he wasn’t sure how the man made it to safety.
Meanwhile, his boat got sucked under the container ship and was thrown up on the other side.
The ferry initiated its man overboard procedure, Eden said, but the man was rescued by his friends.
