Turkish captain recounts 40 hours at sea after boat sinks off Malaysia

ISTANBUL

A Turkish captain has recounted surviving 40 hours in the open sea after his boat reportedly sank off Pulau Xu Island, Malaysia, while his fellow crew member remains missing.

The vessel, captained by Ahmet Volkan Ata, sank suddenly on July 29 amid severe weather.

“The sinking was so sudden and fast. The currents were so strong that if I stopped swimming, they would have dragged me straight into the open sea,” Ata recalled.

Despite exhaustion, he kept swimming against the current until he was spotted and rescued by a passing fishing boat on the afternoon of the third day, Ata said.

His voyage had begun on April 28 from Thursday Island, Australia, after 14 months of maintenance. Ata, along with crewmates Ateş Demirören and Eser Demirkol, stopped in Indonesia and Malaysia before departing Tioman Island for Thailand on the evening of July 28.

That night, a fierce storm struck. “I last saw Eser inside the cabin, motionless, in shock. I told him, ‘We’re sinking,’ but he did not come out,” Ata said.

Moments later, Demirören jumped into the water, the boat went under, and Ata followed, narrowly escaping being pulled down by the vessel.

Ata and Demirören swan through the night, even spotting a passenger ship the next morning that failed to notice them.

For two days, Ata attempted to reach the fishing lights he saw at night, but strong local currents carried him further out.

“Because the current was so strong, whenever I got tired and let go, the current carried us directly out to sea. There was no current toward the shore. These were the prevailing currents in the area. I was unsuccessful,” Ata stated.

Demirören was rescued after 30 hours, while Demirkol remains unaccounted for.

Following his rescue, Ata was taken to Terengganu, Malaysia, and then to the hospital by marine police. He now plans to join the ongoing search for Demirkol, expressing hope that his friend can still be found.