Raju and Rubin, two fishermen brothers, set off for the high seas with three companions on Wednesday night. When they were 110 km from the Tamil Nadu coast, the first waves raised by Cyclone Ockhi rammed their country boat. From Wednesday night to Saturday evening, the five subsisted on rainwater. The GPS and wireless devices on the boat stopped working and the food they got from Thengapattanam in Kanyakumari district was washed away. One engine of the boat was torn away by waves “as tall as buildings”. Only one mobile phone worked and offered a precious connection to a wife praying back on the land. In their desperation to keep the boat afloat, the brothers and their fellow fishermen, Antony Adima, Albin and Villary, emptied 24 cans of kerosene — fuel for their boat — into the sea. Express Explained: A cyclone called Ockhi — why this is raising such an unusual storm Raju B, 48, who is admitted to the medical college hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, said: “It may be because of God’s grace we are alive now.” The others, too, are in the same hospital. “We were fishing 60 nautical miles (110 km) from the coast on Wednesday night when the sea turned furious. We were pulling the net back into the boat when huge waves engulfed us,’’ Raju said. The boat had a wireless set but it did not relay any cyclone warning, Raju said. “Huge waves engulfed our boat. Waves as high as a building. I have been into the sea since I was 10. I hadn’t seen such high waves in the past.’’ As the boat careened to one side, “we five clung on to it from the ridges and remained close to the hull. For next five hours. we managed to hang from one side of the boat,” he said. Also Read: In this Kerala village, they say, never seen sea this angry On Thursday morning, the wind subsided. But water was now seeping into the boat from a crack in the hull. One engine was gone. Using plastic sheets and their clothes, they tried to block the crack while simultaneously emptying water from the boat using a bucket. Rubin said: “We felt our chance of survival was less. But wanted to fight for life till the end, using all our means. We had even planned to use the kerosene cans to stay afloat and had emptied them.” Raju said: “While clinging onto the boat, we prayed to God to save our lives.. As we had lost all food and drinking water, we collected rainwater using a plastic sheet and drank that.’’ On Friday, their fortunes turned. They found one can of kerosene in the hold and restarted the boat. Also, despite being far from land, Raju’s phone, which was in a plastic packet, worked and he spoke to his wife Nisha. For the first time, Thengapattanam knew the five were alive, but also without help. “We succeeded in restarting the engine and managed to move to a safe zone. But, we did not know where we were headed,’’ Raju said. Also Read: Toll climbs to 25, 96 missing; CM Vijayan not allowed to meet fishermen’s kin He would switch on the cellphone for a moment to check the signal, then shut it down as the battery had low charge. On Friday evening, Raju realised the boat had entered mobile coverage area. Around 5 pm, Nisha got a call. “I rushed to the local parish priest who was coordinating the rescue effort,’’ Nisha, who reached the hospital Sunday morning, said. Rubin said, “On Friday night, We got a call from fellow fishermen in the village, asking for our location.. We could not tell them. We later came to know that we were off the Kerala coast.’’ On Saturday evening, a Navy ship reached the fishermen. “Two persons from the ship got into the boat and gave us bread, jam and water bottles,” Rubin said. “We were moved to the ship. Heeding our request, the Navy towed our fishing boat.”
