After being adrift for an astounding 49 days, an Indonesian teenager named Aldi Novel Adilang was rescued by a Panamanian-flagged vessel and safely reunited with his family. Aldi, who hails from Sulawesi, worked as a lamp keeper on a floating fish trap known as a rompong, positioned approximately 125 kilometers from the shore.
As part of his job since the age of sixteen, Aldi was responsible for lighting the rompong’s lamps, which served to attract fish.
Every week, a representative from Aldi’s company would visit the area to collect the trapped fish and replenish his stock of food, water, and fuel.
The floating wooden hut, one among 50 owned by the company and scattered across the waters of Manado, was securely anchored to the seabed using a long rope and buoy system.
However, in mid-July, 2018, powerful winds caused the moorings to break, resulting in Aldi being adrift in the vast ocean.
With only a few days’ worth of supplies, the resourceful teenager relied on his ingenuity to survive. He managed to sustain himself by catching fish, utilizing the wood from his hut to cook them, and ingeniously minimizing his salt intake by sipping seawater through his clothes.
Despite being adrift for over a month and a half, it was only on 31 August that the Indonesian teenager was rescued. Surprisingly, ten ships had passed by him before the Panamanian-flagged vessel, MV Arpeggio, finally spotted him in the waters near Guam. The Indonesian consulate in Osaka provided this information regarding the rescue.
According to Fajar Firdaus, an Indonesian diplomat from the consulate in Osaka, “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 Aldi.”
In an interview with local news portal TribunManado, Aldi shared that he had believed he would perish in the middle of the ocean. He even reached a point of contemplating suicide and considered jumping into the water. However, he remembered his parents’ advice to pray in times of distress and found solace in the presence of a Bible he had onboard. He turned to prayer for strength.
After rescuing Aldi, the captain of MV Arpeggio contacted the Guam coast guard. As the ship was en route to Japan, it was decided that the teenager would be handed over to consulate officials upon their arrival in Tokuyama on 6 September.
During the ordeal, Aldi experienced fear and shed many tears, as described by Fajar Firdaus. However, despite the challenging circumstances, he displayed remarkable resilience. Accompanied by consulate officials, Aldi flew back to Manado and is reported to be in good health.
Survival Stories: Stranded Adrift in Open Sea | Fight To Survive | FD Survive