A 49-year-old resident of Andaman and Nicobar Islands (A&N) was lost at sea for 28 days. Amrit Kujur, a resident of Shahid Dweep, a part of A&N made a living by supplying passing ships with essential everyday supplies.
On September 28, he went out to sea with his friend Divyaranjan on the usual sea route to trade with ships on the Indian Ocean. On the way, they encountered a storm which pushed them off course, leaving them stranded and their boat badly damaged. According to the Indian Express, Kujur told journalists that ‘We had to throw out all our cargo to lighten the boat’.
He said that they signalled some ships but none of them could spot their vessel. Finally, they were spotted by a Burmese Navy ship which stocked them with 260 litres of fuel for their return journey and a compass. That wasn’t where their trouble ended, on the way back they again encountered another storm and found themselves lost again, with their entire fuel spent.
Kujur said that he lost all hope, but survived by consuming sea water which he filtered using his towel. Corroborating his story, Krushnaprasad Station Police Inspector Abhimanyu Nayak told The Indian Express that he checked out Amrut’s story. “At this point, we have determined that a person by the name of Amrit Kujur and Divaranjan were deemed missing at sea since last month. They have family members on the island chain,” he said.
Kujur spent 28 days adrift at sea before he hit coast at Odisha’s Puri district. His friend wasn’t able to survive the ordeal and his death occurred due to consumption of sea water and hunger over a long period of time.
