Sharks and other big fish circled Mario Axiaq’s boat at night as it bobbed around on the dark waves off Sicily for two days, but his biggest fear was that a passing tanker would crush his 13-footer.

I hope this serves as a warning to all the fishermen out there who like me go out without being properly equipped

Using his boat’s canopy as a blanket at night and to shelter against the scorching sun during the day, the 58-year-old father of three spent over 48 hours lost at sea with no food or water until a Panama-registered tanker came to his rescue on Friday at about 11am. It winched him to safety and salvaged the boat.

“After two days at sea I started to despair... so when I saw this big ship I started shouting and waving. It was now or the end of me; I was getting weaker and weaker,” Mr Axiaq said, choking on his tears as he remembered the desolation that haunted him as ship after ship sailed past, oblivious to his cries for assistance.

Using his oar with a white T-shirt tied to it Mr Axiaq waved at passing ships, losing his voice as each time he vainly shouted: “Help me, help me, I’m Maltese!”

“They seem close, but the ships are so big they are further away than you think and with all that noise they don’t hear you. When the tanker finally saw me I was close to collapsing. The Indian captain called out to me and told me to use the oars to row closer to the ship, but I didn’t have any strength left,” he told The Sunday Times yesterday, just as he was being discharged from Mater Dei Hospital.

No food, no water, no power and fast running out of hope

“When I got on board, I hugged the captain tight and told him I’ve been born again,” he said, profusely thanking the crew and all those involved in his rescue.

Surrounded by his beaming wife Carmen and two of his three children – Josephine, Elena and Pierre – the tall and lean Mr Axiaq looked in good health, albeit a bit weak, as he wheeled his granddaughter’s pushchair out of the hospital lift and into the car park.

His family said they had spent the two longest days of their lives living under one roof waiting for that one phone call they hoped would deliver good news.

His daughter Josephine said she would look up at the skies and wonder if her father was seeing the same stars, willing him to return.

But Mr Axiaq knew the dark clouds overhead meant he was far away from the island.

A retired butcher who has been fishing for the past 20 years, Mr Axiaq had set out from St Thomas Bay in Marsascala on Wednesday at 5am.

His wife had packed his thermos and prepared him a sandwich with kunserva and ham.

“I didn’t feel like eating the sandwich so I fed the fish my lunch. God only knows how I yearned to have it back when I was lost out at sea,” he said, lamenting his act of folly.

The last meal Mr Axiaq had eaten was aljotta (fish soup) on Tuesday night, followed by cups of tea and coffee on Wednesday while he was out fishing.

That day the weather was fine so Mr Axiaq ventured out further than usual in the hope of catching more fish, but none took the bait. So at about 2pm he started heading home but took a wrong turning in the fog.

He thought he was heading towards Malta, but instead was sailing further away from the island. By the time he realised his fuel ran out.

With no mobile phone reception, no satellite coordinates and no flares he could not raise the alarm.

By this time he had no water or food to sustain him, and the two fish he had caught were smelling so he threw them back in the sea.

“All I had was a packet of sweets but I was careful not to take too many as they made me more thirsty,” he said, adding that he resisted the deadly temptation of drinking seawater.

“I had started losing hope and didn’t think I would survive.

“All I could do was to implore Our Lady of Graces to save me,” the Żabbar man said, convinced that his town’s patron had answered his prayers.

On Friday the Armed Forces of Malta’s King Air fixed wing aircraft spotted a boat drifting 45 nautical miles northeast of Malta, closer to Sicily, which informed two vessels in the area about the sighting.

The Panama-registered ship confirmed it was Mr Axiaq and took him on board.

“The captain gave me a glass of water, but he had to stop me from gulping it all at once.

“He told me to sip it slowly and then the crew prepared me a wrap – I had to resist wolfing it down... They gave me one of their uniforms and urged me to rest.”

In the meantime, an Italian Military Mission helicopter with a joint Maltese and Italian crew on board airlifted Mr Axiaq to hospital where he was kept under observation for one night.

Reflecting on his ordeal, Mr Axiaq said he had learnt a lot from what had happened and there was no way he would ever venture out on his boat without the proper stocks, a satellite phone, flares and ample food and water.“I hope this serves as a warning to all the fishermen out there who like me go out without being properly equipped,” he said.

Would he return to the sea?

“It’s more of a no than yes at the moment. But I love fishing and I find it so relaxing,” he said.

But his wife quickly interjected and said there was no way she was letting him out of her sight again.