Fishermen ration water, food supplies to survive ordeal at sea

KEMAMAN: Imagine being stuck in the middle of a stormy sea on a rudderless boat with diminishing food and water supply.

That was exactly the ordeal experienced by six anglers from Kemaman, who fought for their lives at sea for four days after their boat was damaged, causing them to be adrift 50 nautical miles north of Pulau Tioman, Pahang.

The skipper of the boat, Mohd Hafizrul Hisham Zakaria, 29, said they began their journey to the middle of the sea at 4 pm on Monday, before the boat's rudder fell off at 8 pm.

"At that time, we were about 20 nautical miles from Kuala Kemaman and had not yet reached our intended fishing spot. So, we anchored there and slept overnight on the boat. The next day, we drifted along hoping to bump into other fishing boats.

"The weather was very bad, with storms occurring day and night. We spotted a boat but our cries for help went unheard... probably due to the distance. We only ate some of the fish we had caught to fill our stomach. I can't imagine what would have happened if we hadn't been found today, because our supply of oil, food and water had all run out," he said, admitting that it was the most frightening experience in his life.

Apart from Mohd Hafizrul Hisham, the other five anglers were Mohamad Shahrul Ainmie Abdullah, 19; Mohd Samerin Suhaimi, 29, Muhammed Hazim Luqman Zakaria, 19, Rosidi Mohamad, 22, and Mohamad Zukarnain Mohamat Nor, 20.

The group, which went fishing on Monday afternoon, were scheduled to return the next day (Tuesday). However, when they did not return, worried family members lodged reports with the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (APMM) before a search and rescue mission was initiated.

It was a bittersweet moment at the Kuala Kemaman jetty when the six anglers met their loved ones yesterday.

Meanwhile, Rosidi said all of them wore safety jackets on the boat, and he was especially worried as he was not a good swimmer.

"During the time we were drifting, I just thought about my family members who must have been worried about our safety. I prayed non-stop for all of us to be able to meet our families again safely," he said, admitting he now had a phobia of returning to the sea.

Even more worrying was the fact that the boat had a leak, and they had to take turns to ensure that the boat's engine never stalled so that the water that entered the boat could be drained out using the machine.

Muhamad Hazim Luqman said they would make various attempts to call for help every time they spotted a fishing boat, but the bad weather made it difficult to catch their attention.

"We also understand that not many fishermen go to sea in such bad weather. But we still tried to survive with the available food and drink resources in the hope that we could be saved.

"Alhamdulillah, finally yesterday there was a fishing boat that found us, and they told us to anchor in the area before another boat came to help and provide food and drink for us to recover our energy," he said, thanking everyone involved in the search operation.

-- BERNAMA