Teen Says Being Lost At Sea For 49 Days Wasn’t The First Time It Happened To Him

A teenager who was lost at sea for 49 days recently discussed how it wasn’t his first time experiencing that.

Aldi Novel Adilang was working in his fishing hut in July 2018. Then, the ropes that were tethering him to the seabed broke.

Adilang was 77 miles away from Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island’s shore. When the anchoring wasn’t successful, he was moved further out to the sea.

He had no safety equipment or navigational system and no method to steer. Thus, he could only wait.

After about a week, he had run out of rice, spices, and drinkable water. He did have fish which he attempted to cook by burning pieces of fence on his hut, or he would just consume it raw.

Without an effective filter, Aldi, who was 19 then, wet his shirt and drank seawater through it, to assist with the reduction of saltwater.

10 ships went by Aldi in the 49 days that he was lost at sea, however, no one saw him. On August 31, a ship, transporting coal, spotted Aldi. He had called for assistance on his portable radio, not knowing that he was 1,200 miles from where he started, in the waters of Guam, in the Pacific.

Video had captured his rescue, showing him wearily climbing a ladder to a Panamanian vessel. The crew pulled him onboard and provided him with clothes and water. They also put him inside blankets and kept him with them for a week until they reached Japan. He then went back to Indonesia to be with his relatives.

Now, Aldi has stated that the occurrence in 2018 wasn’t the first time that had happened to him. The first time, he was afloat a week and was assisted by the owner of the raft. Another time he was afloat for two days before he was helped.

Aldi’s job required that he light lamps in order to lure the fish. Each week, he would bring food, water, and other items as someone would gather the fish that he caught. He did this for a year for $134 per month.

However, after the latter occurrence transpired, Aldi had said that he wouldn’t be going back to that job.