AUTHORITIES are assessing the asylum bid of a man who tried to get to Australia on a one-metre square raft of twigs, sticks and string in 40 knot winds in the wake of Cyclone Oswald.
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The Turkmenistan man, now in the custody of the Department of Immigration and Citizenship on Thursday Island, set out to cross the Torres Strait on Wednesday morning from Papua New Guinea.
He reportedly left the village of Sigabadura and was washed into mangroves on Saibai Island, a few kilometres off the Papua New Guinea coastline.
An Australian Maritime Safety Authority spokeswoman, Jo Meehan, told ABC radio that the man was in good health considering his plight. ''I am genuinely surprised that he got there. This is certainly a first for me. It's not something we would recommend people do," she said.
The weather in the area was severe at the time of his journey, Ms Meehan said, with a 1.5 metre swell and 40-knot winds.
Australian authorities sent a helicopter and customs ship after reports about the man but were unable to locate him. He was eventually found by locals and picked up by a ferry operator on the eastern side of Saibai Island, Queensland police said.
Initially, he was believed to be Polish, but police have confirmed he is from Turkmenistan and speaks Russian.
