An Australian sailor who was rescued after being lost at sea for three months with his dog has said he is “grateful” to be alive.
Timothy Shaddock, 54, made the remarks after setting foot on dry land on Tuesday for the first time since his ordeal started.
The 54-year-old’s catamaran set sail in April from the Mexican city of La Paz for French Polynesia – but was crippled by bad weather weeks into the journey.
Image: The crew of the Mexican tuna boat ‘Maria Delia’ pose for photos with Bella. Pic: AP
He said the last time he saw land was in early May as he sailed out of the Sea of Cortez and into the Pacific Ocean.
The sailor, who is from Sydney, became lost after the electronics on his vessel were wiped out by a storm, leaving him unable to call for help.
He survived for three months collecting rainwater and eating raw fish.
Mr Shaddock and his dog Bella were eventually rescued by a tuna fishing boat before being brought to the Mexican city of Manzanillo.
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After seeing a doctor on board the Maria Delia Tuna on Tuesday, Mr Shaddock said. “I’m feeling alright. I’m feeling a lot better than I was, I tell ya.”
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Moment sailor is rescued after months at sea
The sailor, who was smiling, bearded and thin after stepping back on dry land, continued: “I didn’t think I would make it … there were many bad days and many good days. I lost my cooking along the way so it was a lot of tuna sushi … I’m still very skinny.”
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Image: Tim Shaddock and his dog Bella survived months lost at sea on rainwater and raw fish. Pic: 9News
Mr Shaddock added that after he was rescued he was “just eating so much food” on the Mexican fishing vessel.
“To the captain and fishing company that saved my life, I’m just so grateful. I’m alive and I didn’t really think I’d make it,” he added.
Mr Shaddock was rescued after he was spotted by a helicopter that was on the lookout for tuna for a fishing vessel.
The sailor said the helicopter was the first “human vehicle” he had seen in months.
“The chopper basically flew away and the came back with a speed boat, I was just very grateful,” he said.
Image: Tim Shaddock was rescued by a tuna troller. Pic: 9News
Image: Tim Shaddock pictured shortly after his rescue. Pic: 9News
The tuna boat spotted Mr Shaddock’s boat about 1,200 miles (1,930km) from land, Grupomar, which operates the fishing fleet, said in a statement.
The company didn’t specify when the rescue occurred, but said Mr Shaddock and his dog were in a “precarious” state when they were found.
Mr Shaddock said he’ll be going back to Australia soon and that he’s looking forward to seeing his family.
The sailor said that he and his “amazing” dog are both doing well now and that he still loves the ocean.
Mr Shaddock said: “I did enjoy being at sea, I enjoy being out there, but when things get tough out there you have to survive, and then when you get saved you feel like you want to live.”
Before the sailor and the dog left the rescue vessel, the crew posed for photos on board while holding Bella.
Donald Trump has described crucial trade talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping as “amazing” – and says he will visit Beijing in April.
The leaders of the world’s two biggest economies met in South Korea as they tried to defuse growing tensions – with both countries imposing aggressive tariffs on exports since the president’s second term began.
Aboard Air Force One, Mr Trump confirmed tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US will be reduced, which could prove much-needed relief to consumers.
It was also agreed that Beijing will work “hard” to stop fentanyl flowing into the US.
Semiconductor chips were another issue raised during their 100-minute meeting, but the president admitted certain issues weren’t discussed.
“On a scale of one to 10, the meeting with Xi was 12,” he told reporters en route back to the US.
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Xi a ‘tough negotiator’, says Trump
The talks conclude a whirlwind visit across Asia – with Mr Trump saying he was “too busy” to see Kim Jong Un.
However, the president said he would be willing to fly back to see the North Korean leader, with a view to discussing denuclearisation.
Mr Trump had predicted negotiations with his Chinese counterpart would last for three or four hours – but their meeting ended in less than two.
The pair shook hands before the summit, with the US president quipping: “He’s a tough negotiator – and that’s not good!”
It marks the first face-to-face meeting between both men since 2019 – back in Mr Trump’s first term.
Image: Donald Trump and Xi Jinping. Pic: AP
There were signs that Beijing had extended an olive branch to Washington ahead of the talks, with confirmation China will start buying US soybeans again.
American farmers have been feeling the pinch since China stopped making purchases earlier this year – not least because the country was their biggest overseas market.
Chinese stocks reached a 10-year high early on Thursday as investors digested their meeting, with the yuan rallying to a one-year high against the US dollar.
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Sky News Asia correspondent Helen-Ann Smith – who is in Busan where the talks took place – said it was fascinating to see the power play between both world leaders.
She said: “Trump moved quickly to dominate the space – leaning in, doing all the talking, even responding very briefly to a few thrown questions.
“That didn’t draw so much as an eyebrow raise from his counterpart, who was totally inscrutable. Xi does not like or respond well to unscripted moments, Trump lives for them.”
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On Truth Social, Mr Trump had described the summit as a gathering of the “G2” – a nod to America and China’s status as the world’s two biggest economies.
While en route to see President Xi, he also revealed that the US “Department of War” has now been ordered to start testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 1992.
Tens of thousands of people have been killed in the Sudanese city of Al Fashir by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in a two-day window after the paramilitary group captured the regional capital, analysts believe.
Sky News is not able to independently verify the claim by Yale Humanitarian Labs, as the city remains under a telecommunications blackout.
Stains and shapes resembling blood and corpses can be seen from space in satellite images analysed by the research lab.
Image: Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Image: Al Fashir University. Pic: Airbus DS/2025
Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of Yale Humanitarian Labs, said: “In the past 48 hours since we’ve had [satellite] imagery over Al Fashir, we see a proliferation of objects that weren’t there before RSF took control of Al Fashir – they are approximately 1.3m to 2m long which is critical because in satellite imagery at very high resolution, that’s the average length of a human body lying vertical.”
Mini Minawi, the governor of North Darfur, said on X that 460 civilians have been killed in the last functioning hospital in the city.
The Sudan Doctors Network has also shared that the RSF “cold-bloodedly killed everyone they found inside Al Saudi Hospital, including patients, their companions, and anyone else present in the wards”.
World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was “appalled and deeply shocked” by the reports.
Satellite images support the claims of a massacre at Al Saudi Hospital, according to Mr Raymond, who said YHL’s report detailed “a large pile of them [objects believed to be bodies] against a wall at one building at Saudi hospital. And we believe that’s consistent with reports that patients and staff were executed en masse”.
In a video message released on Wednesday, RSF commander Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo acknowledged “violations in Al Fashir” and claimed “an investigation committee should start to hold any soldier or officer accountable”.
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Image: The Saudi Maternity Hospital in Al Fashir. Pic: Airbus DS /2025 via AP
The commander is known for committing atrocities in Darfur in the early 2000s as a Janjaweed militia leader, and the RSF has been accused of carrying out genocide in Darfur 20 years on.
Sources have told Sky News the RSF is holding doctors, journalists and politicians captive, demanding ransoms from some families to release their loved ones.
One video shows a man from Al Fashir with an armed man kneeling on the ground, telling his family to pay 15,000. The currency was not made clear.
In some cases, ransoms have been paid, but then more messages come demanding that more money be transferred to secure release.
Muammer Ibrahim, a journalist based in the city, is currently being held by the RSF, who initially shared videos of him crouched on the ground, surrounded by fighters, announcing his hometown had been captured under duress.
He is being held incommunicado as his family scrambles to negotiate his release. Muammer courageously covered the siege of Al Fashir for months, enduring starvation and shelling.
The Committee to Protect Journalists regional director Sara Qudah said the abduction of Muammar Ibrahim “is a grave and alarming reminder that journalists in Al Fashir are being targeted simply for telling the truth”.