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The incident of November 27 last year. A fishing trawler carrying 15 fishermen left for Arabian Sea from Thengapatnam jetty in Tamil Nadu state, India. On that trawler were two brothers, Edison Davis and Augustine Nemus. While leaving, they told the family that they will return home before Christmas (December 25). After a few weeks, there was no trace of them. This caused anxiety in their house.
A group of fishermen went deep into the Arabian Sea with a trawler to catch fish. They were supposed to stay at sea for three weeks on this journey. At first the fishermen's families were not that worried when they did not return after the scheduled time. Because, they are used to seeing family members stay in the sea day after day. But Christmas came and went, not seeing them back, the family was worried whether they had met with some big accident or not. Days passed and their anxiety increased.
The strong cyclone 'Okhi' of 2017 is the main reason why the families of the 'missing' fishermen are so scared. They still could not forget the terrible memory of that cyclone. Dozens of fishermen lost their lives in Okhi's fierce clutches. This time too, their family members kept wondering if these fishermen faced any such danger or not. However, such worries of the jailed families ended on January 2. On this day, the missing fishermen returned to their homes.
After returning home, the reason for staying at sea for so long is known to the fishermen. They said that the engine of their trawler broke down after a week of the voyage. The trawler floated in the sea as the engine broke down. Their trawler drifted near an island in the Indian Ocean. They have to stay there for a few days. One day a British ship was passing by the island. That ship eventually rescued them from the island.
But how did the fishermen stay there for the few days before they were rescued from the island? To save lives, fishermen adapt to the situation and come up with new ideas. One of them is drinking water from the coconut trees around the island.
A week into the voyage, the trawler's engine broke down. The trawler floated in the sea as the engine broke down. Five days passed like this. At one point the Sri Lankan came across a fishing trawler.
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Nemus said, 'The men of the Sri Lankan trawler towed our trawler. The trawler stopped at a depth of 8 meters (26 feet). After reaching there we feel safe. Later anchored there.'
Sri Lankan fishing trawlers cannot enter Indian waters. So the Sri Lankan fishermen advised the Indian fishing trawler to send a wireless message for help. A troller responded three days after receiving the message.
Unfortunately the salvage trawler was not strong enough to pull the wrecked trawler. The owner of the trawler was also in the wrecked trawler. He cleverly opened the trawler's gear box for repairs. The rescuer then boarded the trawler and proceeded towards the coast with the gear box. The remaining 14 fishermen anchored in the trawler and waited for the owner to return.
But on December 19, a sudden gust of wind broke an anchor rope. Another accident happened three days later. The second anchor rope is also torn this time. After that the trawler again started floating in the deep sea.
Nemus said, 'The situation was so bad that in the Mediterranean we had nothing to do but pray to God. We didn't even know where the trawler was taking us. At that time, I was only thinking about my wife and two teenage sons.'
At one point, the fishermen took the help of the navigation device in the trawler. "The GPS shows there is an island 29 nautical miles away," Davis said. The island was an island in the Solomon Islands in the Indian Ocean.
Davies said, after that, 9 fishermen loaded rice and necessary supplies in a small canoe and set off for the island. The two fishermen took the boat to the trawler to take the remaining five people down to the island. But by then the trawler drifted to another place. The trawler was found after searching for more than an hour.
After getting the trawler, everyone sat in the canoe. Seven fishermen reached the island after sailing for about five hours. Davis said the island was uninhabited. But when they returned to Danga from the sea, they faced a new challenge there. Fishermen are worried about how they will survive when the food they have with them runs out. At that time, the food with you is also at the end. They have more than 10 days of food and drinking water.
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In this situation, the fishermen had nothing to do but look to nature for help. They use sea water for cooking. But if he needs drinking water, he finds a can and drinks it. Sometimes the rain came down as a blessing. Fishermen used to collect rainwater by laying plastic sheets on the ground. They were bottled and used later.
Nemus became emotional at one stage of the interview. He said, 'I thought we were facing death. We couldn't sleep properly. There was no regular cooking and eating. I was afraid that the logistics with me would run out anytime. We had no idea where we were. He had no idea how long he would have to stay there.'
After staying in this situation for 5 days, a British ship came into sight on 27th December. The ship was passing close to the island. The fishermen were very happy to see the ship. They tied a dark red cloth to a tree branch to attract the attention of the British ship to release them from captivity.
Recalling that day, Davies said, 'We did everything possible to draw attention to the ship. About two hours later four sailors came to us with water and a box of fruit. He wants to know if we are healthy or not.' Then the fishermen were taken to the ship in a canoe.
Fishermen take a bath after many days on board. The sailors then checked the health of the fishermen. Fishermen are allowed to eat after being given useful clothes to change into.
On January 2, the sailors of the British ship handed over the fishermen to the Indian Coast Guard at the port of Vizhinjam on the south coast of India. A day passed to verify their identity and complete the necessary formalities. Then the fishermen returned to the family members.
Nemus said, 'After reaching home, the children hugged me. They want to know what happened. I tell them those stories like fairy tales. I can't count how many times I have told those stories. While on the remote island none of us thought that we would be able to return home.'
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