Five of the fishermen, however, had gone missing, Jupri (45), the boat`s skipper, said here Tuesday, after the seven survivors arrived here on board the MV Kimi Wijaya which had found them floating in the sea.
The survivors, all of them from Tanjungsari, Petarukan sub district, Pemalang District, Central Java, had wounds all over their bodies because of fish bites, according to Jupri.
"We were sailing in our boat which was in stable condition but suddenly I felt tremor twice from below the sea, and then our boat became unstable and finally capsized," Jupri recalled.
Seven members of the boat`s 12-man crew were able to remain alive by holding on the boat`s hull and drinking sea water throughout their 20-day ordeal.
"While floating in the middle of the sea, we felt hopeless and weak because there was nothing to eat, and our bodies were bitten by fish," Jupri said.
The seven wounded survivors are currently being treated at Santa Maria hospital in Pemalang.
The five missing fishermen were identified as Edi (20), Kusno (22), Jamroni (21), Udin (22), and Setta Sopha (21), all of them residents of Asem Doyong village, Petarukan sub district.
(Uu.F001/HAJM/B003)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
