An Indonesian teenager working as a lamp keeper on a floating fish trap anchored off North Sulawesi was rescued off Guam after drifting for 49 days.
Aldi Novel Adilang, 19, had one of the loneliest jobs in the world. He worked on a rompong, floating fish trap anchored 125 kilometers offshore. Above the water, the rompong looked like a shed on a small floating platform. Every night Aldi turned on lamps suspended below the trap to attract fish. His only contact with people was a boat sent out weekly to harvest the fish and to resupply the rompong with food, gas for cooking, clean water and fuel for the generator.
On July 14th, the anchor rode of the rompong chafed through in high winds and Aldi found himself adrift with less than a week’s supplies. He was blown north and east by the high winds. He drifted for 49 days and ultimately was able to attract the attention of the bulk carrier Arpeggio, in waters off Guam, on August 31st.
The Jakarta Post quotes the Indonesian consul general in Osaka, Mirza Nurhidayat, who oversaw the return of Aldi after his rescue, said that, since the device was not a boat, it did not have any paddle or engine. …
As Aldi was drifting away, his supply was only enough for several days, so he caught fish to stave off hunger and drank sea water. “After he ran out of the cooking gas, he burned the rompong’s wooden fences to make a fire for cooking. He drank by sipping water from his clothes that had been wetted by sea water,” Mirza said.
“Aldi said he had been scared and often cried while adrift,” said another diplomat of the consulate in Osaka, Fajar Firdaus.
“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,” Fajar went on.
The bulk carrier Arpeggio was bound for Japan and carried Aldi to Tokuyama, Japan. He has since been returned to his family in Wori, Manado, Indonesia.
Thanks to Phil Leon and Alaric Bond for contributing to this post.
Error: ” Every night Aldi turned on lamps suspended “below” the trap to attract fish.
I think they mean above the traps, unless they now have underwater lighting?
And Rope, not rode chafed.
Bad foreign English.
Also TV news reported he had a 2-way walky-talky which he radioed “HELP” on.
I also doubt that cloth alone would remove any salt from seawater.
Anchor rode is correct!
His job should be superfluous, LED lights with daylight sensors would save on overheads.
So 10 ships went by that wouldnt respond to a “Mayday”. Sad fact of life these days
I did think about that but presumed that the sort of person who takes on a job like that is not aware of emergency radio protocols and had to watch ships pass until a watchkeeper who understood his language or dialect was actually listening on the channel he was transmitting on. I may be wrong about the chap in which case I apologise, at one company where I worked the three employees with university degrees were motorcycle messengers.
Per other remarks it would be interesting to know exactly what equipment Adilang was provided with. 125km offshore, with what?
Every time I read about the hardship endured to extract food from the ocean, I think “be sure to finish all of your fish dinner.” The story behind a filet on a plate is quite flabbergasting.
What a fantastic sailor. Correct me if I’m wrong, But I believe this young man crossed the equator, making him eligle to join the Royal Order of Neptunus Rex. I’d like to mail him the certificate if I can get his address. Anyone? Wori, Manado Indonesia. Maybe that’s enough