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Harrison Okene survived for TWO DAYS in an air pocket after the tugboat he was working on capsized.

The cook lived on sips of Coca-Cola as he remained trapped in the four-foot high space.

The 29-year-old was onboard the Jascon-4 when it sank around 20 miles off the coast of Nigeria.

In astonishing footage, a shocked rescue worker is heard shouting: "He's alive, he's alive!"

The mission controller is then heard to mutter: "F****** hell, I don't know what they're going to do."

He tells the diver: "Just keep him there, keep him calm, OK? Just reassure him, pat him on the shoulder.

"Just reassure him, give him a thumbs up, reassure him."

Mr Okene's stunned face then appears on camera, as the diver emerges from the water into the same air pocket.

He was the only survivor found among the ship's 12 crew members, following the tragedy in May this year.

At the time of his rescue, Mr Okene said: "I was there in the water in total darkness just thinking it's the end.

"I kept thinking the water was going to fill up the room but it did not.

"I was so hungry but mostly so, so thirsty. The salt water took the skin off my tongue."

He added: "I was very, very cold and it was black. I couldn't see anything.

"But I could perceive the dead bodies of my crew were nearby. I could smell them.

"The fish came in and began eating the bodies. I could hear the sound. It was horror."

The team of rescuers were sent by the ship's owners, as well as the Chevron oil company.

The Jascon-4 tugboat had been stabilising an oil tanker filling up at a Chevron platform at the time of the accident.

Mr Okene was fitted with an oxygen mask before being brought to the surface, more than 60 hours after the ship sank.

He then spent another 60 hours in a decompression chamber where his body pressure was returned to normal.

If he had been exposed immediately to the outside air, he would have died.