Two sisters survived a boat crash by swimming for eight hours and spending the night on a desert island.

Katherine Ostojic, 21, and her 19-year-old sister Alice – both reportedly from Stevenage – were on a tourist boat heading to Indonesia on Sunday when the vessel hit a reef and started taking on water.

The pair, who had been travelling through Australia and south east Asia as part of Alice’s gap year, spent the next 10 hours sitting on the semi-submerged boat as it began to sink, before deciding to abandon ship.

The two sisters swam for eight hours to the nearest coastline – an uninhabited volcanic island – where they were found by a group of fishermen.

They spent the night on the island, with the fishermen supplying them with food and water before taking them to the nearby Indonesian island of Sumbawa.

Both Alice and Katherine, who is an engineering student at the University of Bristol, lost the majority of their possessions but managed to keep hold of their passports, debit cards and cash. They will be returning home shortly.

In a statement, their mother Joan Ostojic said: “It is a relief that they are safe. They are fine, carrying on with their travels and will be home shortly.”

It has been reported that everyone else on the boat has been found alive and well.