Navy rescues 18 fishermen at sea

Eighteen fishermen were rescued from the Bay of Bengal after they were stuck at the sea due to the engine failure of their fishing trawler. Photo: TBS

The Bangladesh Navy has rescued 18 fishermen from the Bay of Bengal as they were stuck at sea due to the engine failure of their fishing trawler.

The fishing trawler named FB Al Hasan was idle in the deep sea from 17 December.

Two Navy patrol crafts – Nirmul and Atandra – recovered them 83 nautical miles away from Saint Martin's Island on Friday, said a media statement issued by ISPR on Saturday.

The fishermen are: Kashem Kerani, Babul, Al Amin, Hosen, Tofazzel, Khalil, Shakil, Aziz, Nazrul, Shamim Shikder, Abul Kashem, Kabir Uddin, Jagannath, Yusuf, Ramjan, Hafeez, Shah Alam, and Babul.

Photo: TBS

The fishermen said they set out to fish in the sea on a trawler on 9 December last year. Later, the trawler stopped due to engine failure on 17 December.

They survived by eating puffed rice and fried fish.

After rescuing them, the Navy offered them primary health treatment as they all were physically and mentally distressed due to their nightmare experiences at sea.