Had Surrendered For 11 Days Floating In The Sea, These 3 Acehnese Fishermen Were Finally Helped By Tanker Ships

The fisherman was rescued by a tanker while on the SAR ship KN Kresna 232 after being evacuated from a tanker in Aceh waters, Thursday (12/1/2024). ANTARA/M Haris SA

The National SAR Agency (Basarnas) team evacuated three fishermen from Aceh who were rescued by a tanker after floating in the ocean for 11 days. The evacuation took place in the Bengal Strait, the waters between Aceh Island, Aceh Besar District, and Weh Island, Sabang City, Aceh and 7.3 nautical miles from Ulee Lheue Port, Banda Aceh City. Evacuation using the SAR ship KN Kresna 232, Friday, January 12. The three fishermen who were evacuated were Jekie Bowie (30) and Baihaki (34) residents of Johan Pahlawan, West Aceh Regency and Rinal Junaidi (46), residents of Kutaraja, Banda Aceh City. The three fishermen are crew members of KM Sultan Meulaboh Capsize. Head of Banda Aceh Basarnas Ibnu Harris Al Hussain said the three fishermen were rescued by the SC Gold Ocean tanker, Thursday, January 11 at around 10:00 local time. The Marshall Islands-flagged ship was sailing from Tanjung Pelepahan Port, Malaysia to Mumbai, India. "The tanker found the three Acehnese fishermen floating in the condition of their ship sinking in the western waters, 90 nautical miles from Weh Island. Then, they were rescued and boarded to the SC Gold Ocean ship," he said. The condition of the three fishermen when they were evacuated was in good health. Previously, they were adrift in the ocean for 11 days after their ship leaked. Ibnu Harris said that after rescuing the three fishermen, the tanker informed them for the evacuation process. Basarnas deployed an evacuation team and dispatched KN Kresna from Ulee Lheue Port on Thursday at around 22.30 WIB. "The evacuation took place in the early hours of Friday. The evacuation process was hampered by wind and waves and the tanker was in a unloaded condition, so it required a special ladder to lower three fishermen to the SAR ship," said Ibnu Harris Al Hussain. Meanwhile, Rinal Junaidi, the fishermen who were evacuated, said they were adrift in the ocean for 11 days after the front hull was made of boards on their motorboats broke. When it breaks, the waves in the waters are not too big. "We tried to cover the hull of the broken ship with cloth, but it didn't work, finally the ship sank to the roof. We defended the roof of the ship's house," he said. Previously, they sailed from Banda Aceh. They took refuge in the Pulo Aceh Islands, Aceh Besar District, due to bad weather, from the Pulo Aceh Islands they headed to the western waters of Weh Island, Sabang City to catch fish. To survive, they eat instant coffee in packaging and drink seawater. While freshwater, they get drizzling. Likewise, while sleeping, they sleep modestly wrapped in tarpaulins from parachutes to prevent the cold. "As long as we were adrift in the ocean, we had asked a number of ships that passed by. The ship that helped us was the fifth ship. At that time, we had surrendered," he said. Rinal Junaidi said that he and his two colleagues had thought that if the last ship did not help, they would leave the ship using a raft made from a fishing barrel.

"At that time, we were ready to use a raft and it was up to where to go. We are grateful and grateful for the tanker to save. At that time, we also thought it was up to where the tanker was taken, the important thing was that we survived," said Rinal Junaidi.