Fishermen spend four days at sea floating in plastic boxes after boat capsizes

24 July 2023 , 11:29

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Fishermen spend four days at sea floating in plastic boxes after boat capsizes

Three fishermen whose boat capsized survived four days floating at sea in plastic storage boxes.

The workers were among a crew of six that had set off from the coast of Miri City in Sarawak State, Malaysia, on July 18.They were supposed to return the following morning, but their vessel was overturned by rough waves.

Two of them, Mohd Firdaus Mustaqim Rol, 35, and Mohammad Azrul Abdullah, 20, were rescued 8.6 nautical miles off Kuala Bakam on July 19, but the other four were still missing.

On Saturday, July 22, three more men were found by oil rig workers floating in orange ice boxes around 32 nautical miles from Kuala Baram. They were identified by authorities as Zaidi Jana, 43, Annuar Amin, 54, and Junaidi Nyamin, 70.

Crew members scramble to save the fishermen hauled out of the sea (ViralPress)

The workers were among a crew of six that had set off from the coast of Miri City in Sarawak State, Malaysia, on July 18 (ViralPress)

Footage shows the exhausted fishermen, who had spent several days adrift in the ocean, bobbing along the water in the crates while the oil rig crew dragged them closer and pulled them aboard using ropes.

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Two of the fishermen were sitting in one box while another was in a second box attached to theirs.

Officials said one more fisherman, Masni Jana, 60, is still missing.

Maritime Captain Mohd Shafie Paing, Director of the Miri Maritime Zone, said: 'The three victims were found at 10:15 am by the crew of the oil rig floating using fishing containers.

Officials say one more fisherman is still missing (ViralPress)

The survivors were severely dehydrated (ViralPress)

'They suffered sunburn due to the hot weather and have been airlifted to Miri Hospital by a helicopter. They are currently being monitored by the Malaysian Ministry of Health.

'The men were dehydrated and fatigued but they will all recoved. Our attention is now on co-ordianting with them to try and find the other missing crew member.

Captain Mohd said search and rescue operations are ongoing to find the missing fisherman.

Ryan Fahey