An Indonesian teen who was swept out to sea on a small fishing hut was able to use his own ingenuity to survive out in the middle of the ocean until he was eventually able to successfully flag down a passing ship after 49 days.
18-year-old Aldi Novel Adilang, had been on the hut, which is known as a “rompong,” 77 miles off the shores of Indonesia in July of 2018. While working there, heavy winds strained and ultimately broke the moorings which had been holding the whole thing in place according to an article from the BBC.
Aldi’s job on the rompong had been to light the lamps to attract fish. The whole hut was secured to the seabed by ropes but they had snapped under the harsh conditions. Unfortunately for the young man, rompongs do not have any paddles or way of steering. This meant that there was no way for Aldi to control the direction of travel, he was at the complete mercy of the currents.
Aldi was carried out thousands of miles leaving him with no choice but to wait for rescue while doing whatever he could to survive. And that wait would end up being much longer than he likely thought it would be as ships would pass him by without noticing him. All in all, it took 49 days before he was finally spotted. But that’s nowhere near the longest someone has survived adrift at sea.
How did Aldi Novel Adilang survive for so long?
The rompong Aldi had been working on was swept out to sea on July 14th. There were few supplies on board meaning he would have to fish for his dinner everyday. Luckily Aldi knew what he was doing when it came to fishing. When it came to cooking the fish, Aldi would break off pieces of the wooden fences surrounding the hut and start a fire with which to cook.
As for water, he would filter sea water through his shirt which somehow worked in allowing him to drink it without being sick.
The young man showed resilience and resourcefulness even when things looked bleak. He claims that at least ten ships sailed right past him but “None of them stopped or saw [him].” Aldi said that “he had been scared and often cried while adrift,” but despite it all he continued to do what he had to to survive.
On August 31st, he was able to send an emergency distress signal as a ship passed nearby. This time his signal was picked up, with the ship stopping and returning to pick him up. The ship was a Panamanian vessel which had been passing through the waters of Guam which just goes to show how far Aldi had drifted.
The captain was instructed over radio to take the castaway to Japan and so on September 6th, Aldi was back on dry land. Two days later he was on a jet to Indonesia where he was reunited with his family.
