West Bengal: Rescued fisherman held on to fuel drums for 5 days

KOLKATA: Namkhana fisherman Rabindranath Das, who was rescued by a Bangladeshi ship off the Chittagong coast on Thursday, five days after his trawler capsized in the waters of the neighbouring country, rode the choppy waves of the Bay of Bengal holding on to fuel drums even as 11 of his colleagues, who had jumped off the sinking boat, drowned one by one. Hours after his miraculous rescue, Das spoke briefly to his wife over phone from the ship in which he is still being treated.On Friday morning, a neighbour in his village — Dulal Das — called the captain of the ship that rescued Das and got him to narrate the story of his amazing escape. It turned out to be one of extreme courage and resilience.
According to Das, a fisherman himself, Rabindranath had jumped into the sea along with 11 others after their trawler capsized on July 6. They offloaded a dozen fuel drums from the sinking trawler, bound them together with ropes and held on to them to stay afloat. The turbulent waves kept taking them adrift but the men kept clutching on to the drums to survive. “For the next five days, till Thursday, Das held on for dear life without food or water while the others lost the battle and drowned. Two from our village — Swapan Das and Samir Das — drowned a few hours before Rabindranath was spotted and rescued by the ship. He didn’t lose nerve even as others kept disappearing in the waters,” said Das.
A life jacket was hurled to him by the ship, which finally spotted Das, but he missed it. “Yet, he didn’t lose heart. The ship had lost sight of him and managed to find him again at a distance of about 5.5km from the spot where he had been first sighted,” said Das, adding that Rabindranath was probably still on the ship and under treatment.
The courageous fisherman, however, is apparently distraught that two of his fellow fishermen and neighbours lost their lives hours before they could have been rescued. “According to Rabindranath, Samir drowned on Wednesday night while Swapan sank an hour-and-half before the rescue ship came,” said Das.
On July 6, the trawler with 15 fishermen from Kakdweep was caught in a storm and swept into Bangladesh waters. It finally sank off the Haribhangar Char in Bangladesh waters. While 12 of them jumped into the water, the other three got separated. Soon after Rabindranath was rescued, Das received a call from the captain of the ship who said he was alive. Das rushed to Rabindranath’s wife Bandana and gave her the good news. He then made a videocall and helped her speak to Rabindranath. “I heard his voice and saw his hazy pictures. But it was a great relief and I hope he returns soon,” said Bandana.
The ill-fated trawler named FB Nayan-I was among the 100-odd fishing vessels that had left the Kakdweep shores on July 4.