Sydney  - The tabloid tale of a foreign scuba-diving couple who spent 19 hours drifting in shark-infested waters after surfacing to find the current had carried their Great Barrier Reef dive boat out of reach could be a boon for adventure tourism in Australia, a chirpy Queensland official said Monday.

Briton Richard Neely, 38, and his US partner Allyson Dalton, 40, are reported to have sold their survival saga to Britain's Sunday Mirror for a six-figure sum.

They were alone in the Pacific Ocean off the Whitsunday Islands all night before being spotted by a rescue helicopter at first light on Saturday morning.

"I think you've got to look for the silver lining on the cloud and the silver lining for us is that we're confirmed as a Great Barrier Reef dive destination and it's a bit adventurous," Tourism Whitsundays chief executive Peter O'Reilly told Australia's AAP news agency.

He nevertheless admitted that the prospect of being lost in shark-infested waters for three hours before the alarm was raised could deter some international travelers.

O'Reilly said Queensland had one of the safest dive industries in the world and that police had found no fault with the dive boat operator and would not be pressing charges despite the delay in starting a search.

The pair, who have refused to speak to the local press, were released Sunday from a Townsville hospital after being treated for mild hypothermia.

"I truly thought we were going to die," Neely told the Sunday Mirror. "Sharks were on our mind the entire time but neither of us mentioned the S word. We just had to stay positive and calm to help each other through the ordeal and not think about being eaten alive."

He said the terror of impending death had not persuaded them to hang up their scuba gear. "This is certainly not going to put us off," he was quoted as saying. "We hope we'll be partners for life after this."

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh also seemed determined to frighten tourists away from surf-and-sand holidays on Australia's east coast.

Despite no one blaming the couple for being lost at sea, Bligh said the couple should part with some of the proceeds from selling their story to help defray the cost of their rescue.

"If they are going to profit from their story I don't think a contribution back would go astray," Bligh said, noting that seven helicopters, three fixed-wing aircraft and six boats had been sent out to search for them. "It would be a very welcome gesture."

Even before she had spoken, Max Markson, the couple's publicity agent, had promised they would contribute to their rescue.

John Lippman, a spokesman from the insurance company Divers Alert Network that covered the couple, said the delay in sounding the alarm had needlessly raised the cost of the rescue operation.

"If a search is initiated quickly enough, divers are usually found pretty quickly and pretty inexpensively," he told national broadcaster ABC. "The thing that seems to stand up as a big question mark for me is actually how long was the delay before the search authorities were called."

Two years ago two British divers were rescued after spending almost six hours in the water in identical circumstances when they saw their dive boat disappear over the horizon. Again, strong currents had carried them away from their craft.

New safety procedures were introduced after the disappearance and presumed death of a US couple, Tom and Eileen Lonergan, in 1998. There was a botched headcount and it was not until two days later, when their unclaimed luggage was found on the boat, that they were even reported missing. The Lonergans were probably dead before a search was launched for them. (dpa)