Back from the Dead

The Astonishing True Story of the Crew of the Blythe Star – and Survival in One of the Wildest Places on Earth

By: Mick Doleman, Piia Wirsu

Narrated by: Piia Wirsu

1973. Ten men, shipwrecked and alone in a life raft on the wild Southern Ocean off Tasmania, are declared dead by the authorities. Can they survive the unsurvivable?

This is the astonishing story of the sinking of the coastal freighter the M.V. Blythe Star, which sparked the most extensive sea and air search at the time and left ten men, including 18-year-old Mick Doleman, in a tiny life raft at the mercy of the wild southern ocean – and all given up for dead.

Twelve days later, three ravaged and starving men, including Mick, were found wandering on a remote logging trail in a southern peninsula of Tasmania, and their story would stun the nation ... and leave a powerful legacy in its wake.

This is an extraordinary story of human endurance written by Piia Wirsu, the producer and narrator of From the Dead, the award-winning season of the ABC podcast Expanse, with Mick Doleman, now the only surviving crew member of the Blythe Star, who became a global influence in maritime safety.

©2025 Piia Wirsu (P)2025 Bolinda Publishing, HarperCollins Publishers Australia Pty Limited