PERSONNEL of a Navy transport ship rescued an Indonesian fisherman off Davao Occidental on Tuesday, ending his seven-day ordeal of drifting after his boat suffered engine trouble.
Lt. Nichero Brien Claudio, spokesman of the Naval Forces Eastern Mindanao (NFEM), said the fisherman, Kamuraan Ama, 50, of Miangas, Talaud, Indonesia was turned over to Indonesian authorities yesterday afternoon.
Claudio said BRP Tarlac was conducting gunnery exercise about 54.5 nautical miles southwest of Balut Island in Sarangani town on Tuesday when it received a distress call from the radioman of Lite Boat Tanigue, who said they found an Indonesian fishermen needing assistance about 11 nautical miles from where the Navy ship was.
The BRP Tarlac proceeded to the site and hauled the fisherman and his boat aboard the ship.
“The victim had been reportedly adrift for seven days owing to engine failure when he was discovered by the Lite Boat Tanigue,” said Claudio.
Claudio said Ama was fishing in Indonesian waters when his boat encountered engine trouble and later drifted to the vicinity of Balut Island.
