Fishermen survive 14 hours at sea

Fishermen survive 14 hours at sea

MALAYSIA: Two Indonesian fishermen survived for fourteen hours in the Strait of Malacca by clinging to pieces of their boat after it collided with a container ship, reports said on Wednesday.

Neim Ahmad, 53, and his son Nur Rizan, 30, both residing in Malaysia, were plucked out of the waters off the coast of western Malacca state by a cargo ship on Monday after tears and fervent prayers.

"It was God's grace that kept us alive," Neim was quoted as saying by the Star daily. "It was difficult keeping afloat by holding on to a piece of wood.

"(We) had even taken off our t-shirts so that we would not be dragged down by the weight.

"Never in our lives have we prayed with tears streaming down our cheeks. But I kept telling my son to hold on and keep thinking of being rescued," he said, adding they had also feared shark attacks.

The two men were fishing five nautical miles off the coast on Sunday night when they saw they were on collision course with the container ship.

"I shouted to my son to watch out as the ship slammed into the boat, which then split in two," Neim was quoted as saying in the New Straits Times. "When in the water we clung to the wood from the boat and shouted for help, but the crew did not seem to hear our cries as the ship never stopped." --AFP