A MAN swam for his life for more than four hours after a fishing trip with friends turned into a desperate battle for survival.

Elvis Cojocariu swam for the shore in the dead of night with a buoy under one arm after the boat he and his three friends were using for was hit by a much larger vessel causing their boat to capsize.

Tributes have poured in for the three men who were night fishing for mackerel close to the Rampion Windfarm when tragedy struck in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The missing men, who emergency services searched for in vain for eight hours, are father-of-four Mitch Ilie, the owner of a bike repair shop in Elm Grove, Brighton, and his brother-in-law and father-of-three Irinez Popovici, who lives close by in Lewes Road.

Relatives are now urging the captain and crew involved in the collision to come forward and help with an investigation into the incident.

The four men set out from Shoreham Harbour at about 10.30pm, heading out ten miles in the direction of the Rampion Windfarm where they then stopped the boat but did not put down anchor.

Mitch was a regular fisherman, who went out weekly and frequently fished from the quiet spot near the windfarm.

His boat had been out of action for three months for maintenance and was said to be in good working order.

Mr Cojocariu said no one from the party caught anything for the first hour until around 1am when they began reeling in mackerel for around 30 minutes.

At 1.30am, the four friends spotted a large commercial vessel, standing around ten metres high out of the water, heading straight for them.

Despite frantic efforts to attract the ship’s crew with the lights from their boat and two head torches, the ship continued on the course straight for them.

They turned on their boat’s engine and tried to make a drastic u-turn to avoid a collision.

But the larger vessel clipped the very back of their boat. It started taking on water and listing precariously.

The men could see the boat was sinking and prepared themselves to enter the water.

One emptied a jerry can to use as a buoyancy aid while two buoys were cut from the boat at the very last minute. Sadly Mitch entered the water with nothing.

Mr Cojocariu said: “It all happened in about two minutes. There was no time to call for help.

“We just had to swim towards the lights, swim towards the shore.

“Mitch was screaming for help and me and Irinez started swimming to the shore but he started panicking because he couldn’t swim and after 25 minutes I couldn’t hear him anymore.

“I just kept thinking about not dying. I was trying to swim to the shore but the current was pushing me parallel to the coast.”

About two kilometres away from the shore, Mr Cojocariu said he saw a boat in the distance and began screaming for help.

He was pulled onboard using ropes just before 6am and immediately raised the alarm for the search to begin for his three friends.

Once brought back to shore he was so exhausted he collapsed and only regained consciousness in Worthing Hospital.

He said: “I’m happy to survive but really sorry about my friends.”

TRIBUTES TO HARD-WORKING AND SELFLESS MISSING MEN

THE loss of Mitch Ilie and Irinez Popovici will leave a massive hole for family and friends.

The two men are missing, presumed dead, after their boat sank in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Both are fathers; Mitch to four children aged between 19 and two and Irinez has a 17, 15 and five-year-old.

Five of their children were on holiday in Romania at the time of the accident.

Mitch is a well-known figure in the Elm Grove area of Brighton having run Mitch and Grandad’s Bike Shop since the death of his former boss Stewart Gover in 2015.

He moved from London to Brighton six years ago, drawn by his love of the sea.

Elvis Cojocariu’s son Alfred Cojocariu, 21, said: “I’ve known Mitch since I was 13, he gave me my first ever job. He always treated me as an equal despite the age difference.

“There’s nothing bad you could say about him, he was just a really good guy. He was like a big brother to me.”

Marain Vechiu said: “He moved to Brighton because he loved the sea and he loved the people here, he thought they were much kinder than in London. He felt like this was his home. At the bike store, if somebody couldn’t pay, he would just say pay me next time. He was always thinking about others.”

Landlord Terry Brown said: “He was just a really nice guy, always thinking about other people. He would work really long hours at the bike shop, he was totally dedicated to his family.”

Anyone with information about the incident or the boat involved should report online or to call 101 quoting Operation Barnet.