Astonishingly, a teenager revealed that being lost at sea for almost 50 days wasn’t a first-time experience for him.
Aldi Novel Adilang certainly has an extraordinary tale to share with anyone willing to listen.
In July 2018, the then-18-year-old was at work in his fishing hut, known as a rompong, when disaster struck.
The ropes securing the hut to the seabed broke, leaving Aldi at the mercy of the ocean currents.
Situated about 77 miles off Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island, he drifted even further out to sea after the anchoring failed.
To compound the situation, Aldi had no safety or navigational tools and no means to steer.
Essentially, all he could do was wait and hope for a favorable outcome.
You can see the dramatic rescue here:
After a week, Aldi’s limited provisions of rice, spices, and clean water were exhausted. To survive, he fished and either cooked his catch by burning parts of his hut or ate it raw.
The most daunting challenge was finding enough clean water.
With no proper filtration system, Aldi soaked his T-shirt and drank seawater through it to minimize the salt content.
Over 49 days, 10 ships passed by without noticing him. It wasn’t until August 31 that he was spotted by a coal-carrying vessel.
Unaware he had drifted 1,200 miles to the waters near Guam in the Pacific, Aldi called for help on his portable radio.
Fortunately, the crew of the Panamanian vessel saw the stranded teenager and rescued him, providing him with fresh clothes and water.
Footage captured the dramatic rescue, showing an exhausted Aldi climbing up a rope ladder along the boat after jumping into the water to reach it.
The crew carefully lifted him onto the deck, wrapping him in blankets.
Aldi stayed on the vessel for a week until they arrived in Japan. Two days later, he flew back to Indonesia to reunite with his family.
Incredibly, Aldi told the BBC this wasn’t the first time he had been lost at sea.
He had experienced it twice before, although those incidents were much shorter.
“The first [time], I was afloat for a week and helped by the owner of the raft,” he said.
“The second time, I was afloat for two days and also received help from the owner of the raft.”
Aldi’s job was to light the rompong’s lamps, which are designed to attract fish.
He had signed a one-year contract and earned $134 (£101) each month.
After the recent ordeal, Aldi understandably said he would not return to his previous job.
People praised the brave teenager for his resilience during the dramatic rescue.
One social media user commented: “Even if I had the survival skills, I would have gone crazy being alone, on that raft, in the middle of the ocean, for that long!”
Another wrote: “Think of all of those horrifying nights alone in the ocean he had to endure. Just every single moment living in anxiety, uncertainty, and fear. I can’t even imagine. He’s amazing.”