An Indonesian teenager named Aldi Novel Adilang has finally been rescued after spending 49 days adrift at sea.
Adilang was a lamp keeper for a floating fish trap called Rompong, with weekly brief human contact and a walkie-talkie. On July 14, a hard wind blew him thousands of kilometres away from home in North Sulawesi to Guam waters.
Aldi, however, managed to survive for 49 days until a Panama-flagged vessel, Arpeggio, rescued him from Guam waters, reported Jakarta Post.
The Indonesian consul general in Osaka, Mirza Nurhidayat, who oversaw the return of Aldi after his rescue, informed he stayed alive by catching fish and drinking sea water.
He added, "After he ran out of the cooking gas, he burned the Rompong's wooden fences to make a fire for cooking. He drank by sipping water from his clothes that had been wetted by sea water."
Another diplomat of the consulate in Osaka, Fajar Firdaus said, "Aldi said he had been scared and often cried while adrift. Every time he saw a large ship, he said, he was hopeful, but more than 10 ships had sailed past him, none of them stopped or saw him."
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On August 31, a bulk carrier Arpeggio sailed past Aldi when the ship's captain noticed the teenager's radio distress signal and turned the carrier around, eventually managing to rescue him.
The crew continued on their journey to Japan when Japanese authorities contacted the Indonesian consulate general and immediately tried to find Aldi's family and prepare the necessary documents for his return to Indonesia.
"We coordinated with the shipping authorities in Japan, the ship's captain, the Japanese coast guard and the immigration authorities," said Mirza.
Arrangements were then made to have him flown to Indonesia. Aldi has now been reunited with his family and is in good health.