6 January 2005
Malaysia
A fortuitous decision to change route led the vessel Hoom Xiang 8 to Banda Aceh tsunami survivor Malawati, who had been floating in the Indian Ocean for five days.
Ooi Wee Seong, marketing manager of Hoom Xiang Industries Sdn Bhd, which owns the tuna fishing vessel, said their boats usually took a return route between the Andaman Islands and Myanmar.
“Due to strong winds, the captain, Chern Dah Rong, decided to steer his vessel past the Nicobar Islands and Aceh to get back to the Malaysian International Tuna Port in Batu Maung here,†he said in an interview.
Ooi said the 45-ton vessel had been fishing for tuna in the Indian Ocean for almost a month. â€When the tsunami rocked the region on Dec 26, I quickly alerted Chern by satellite radio to be cautious,†he said, adding that he kept daily contact with the Hoom Xiang 8.
Ooi said that Chern had notified him that the vessel had not been affected by the tsunami. The crewmen did not see any floating debris from the tsunami on their journey home. The drifting nipah trunk with Malawati was the only thing they spotted,†he said.
Ooi added that the company had deployed all 20 tuna vessels to the Indian Ocean, as December was peak tuna fishing season. “All of the other vessels used the normal returning route except the Hoom Xiang 8,†he said. He added that it was also fortunate that there were four Indonesian crewmen onboard who were able to communicate with Malawati.
