Rescued Indonesian teenager recounts ordeal of surviving 49 days adrift at sea

Reuters - Nineteen-year-old Aldi Novel Adilang spoke about how squeezing seawater from his shirt, reading the Bible and singing spiritual songs kept him alive for 49 days before he was rescued in waters off Guam. Speaking to Reuters on Tuesday (September 25) from the family home in Manado, Adilang recounted his ordeal when the anchor of his wooden fish trap or "romping" snapped due to strong winds, sending him drifting out to sea. Adilang's job was to man a lit raft, usually for an entire month, to attract fish and moored miles away from the coast. Food and fuel for a generator are normally replenished weekly by his employers, dropping them off at various romping spread out across the fishing area. He said his solar-powered radio allowed him to provide information to passing ships but ten had sailed past but no one stopped to help. He was eventually rescued by a Panama-registered ship and handed over to Japanese authorities on September 7.