Tamil Nadu fisherman survives by swimming 10 hours in sea, rescued

“I was very tired of swimming in the sea for so many hours. So many fishing boats and vessels had failed to notice me since morning. Even my own team was not aware that I had fallen into the water. It was around 4 pm that I noticed the cargo ship and started swimming towards it. I was ready to die after getting hit by the ship as it was my last attempt to save myself. But luckily some crew members noticed me and rescued me by 6 pm,” recalled Nagarajan, 40, when DTNext contacted him on Tuesday. Later, the ship crew contacted New Mangalore Port authorities to hand him over. 

He is currently resting at his home in Ramanathapuram with his wife and child and hopes to go back to Mangalore again soon. 

A Class 9 drop out, Nagarajan has been fishing since childhood. But this was his first season in Mangalore coast with a few other fishermen from Tamil Nadu using a boat owned by someone belonging to that region. 

Last Thursday, while returning after fishing he fell sick and was resting. At 8 am, he accidently fell into the sea. His boat was the last in the group of nearly 50 boats that were returning to shore. 

“I thought I was in the boat. Suddenly I found myself struggling in water and my boat moving away from me. Others on my boat failed to notice that I had fallen off. I was drifting in the sea for hours. At least two boats, which were stationary for hours, started moving as I reached near them,” Nagarajan said while narrating the sequence of events in the sea that day.