A two-tonne, 4-metre shark attacked an Emirati sailor and his crew of five on the deck of their fishing boat at Fujairah coastline.

The Emirati sailor recalled the horrific incident that took place in the early hours of Sunday when the shark suddenly jumped into the boat.

According to Hamza Al Sharaa, the Emirati sailor, the shark seemed hungry and was trying to find anything to eat.

“It was 2 am and we were 28 miles away from the shore,” he told The National.

“One of our crew members was fixing the fishing rope on the boat when the shark jumped out of the water from his back trying to eat him and, in seconds, it was in the middle of the boat after it hit one of the boat barriers,” he said adding that the shark leapt three metres out of the water to get onto the boat.

“We were all in a state of shock. This is the first time we have witnessed such an incident.”

No one was reported injured as barrier on the boat prevented from any untoward incident. However, the boat had to be sent for maintenance as it suffered material damage.

The two-ton shark has been mummified to be displayed for visitors at the Marine Heritage Museum, reported local Arabic daily Emarat Al Youm.