7 fishermen found safe after 9 hours at sea

Seven fishermen of Tanjung Balai, Asahan, North Sumatra, arrived safe at the Ulee Lhue port, Banda Aceh, Tuesday after nine hours floating at sea following a boat accident on Friday.

“We have floated for nine hours after our boat was hit by a cargo ship at Malaka strait waters. We were rescued by the MV Limin Swordfish ship,” a survivor of the KM Rejeki Makmur boat, Nasrul, said Tuesday in Banda Aceh.

He added that he did not know the name of the ship which has crashed their boat.

Nasrul said that the seven fishermen, including himself, were safe and in good condition.

The seven fishermen, Nasrul, Syamsul Anwar, Sudarman, Andi Rahmat, Arifin, Najri and Mulkan, were evacuated to the MV Limin Swordfish tag boat, which found them when it was en route to India from Singapore.

MV Limin Swordfish captain Sinartha said that he contacted the Belawan port officials soon after they had found the fishermen.

“The Save and Rescue team has suggested that we take the fishermen to the nearest port, which was Banda Aceh,” Sinartha said as quoted by Antara news agency. (swd)