Mr. Malloy tests frigid Japanese waters mid-winter. Photo: Brian Nevins
Being bitten by a shark over and over sounds like a nightmare to some–the kind where you’re tossing and turning, nervously murmuring and sweating profusely. Unfortunately for one Indonesian sailor this weekend, this nightmare and more became a reality when his ship caught fire in the East China Sea.
According to the Japanese Coast Guard, the ship incurred plenty of damage, including what appears to be burnt remnants that were the product of a fire on board. The boat was tracked down drifting roughly 35 nautical miles off a Japanese island called Miyako-jima. The sailor abandoned ship and was picked up by another Taiwanese fishing boat some time later.
When the man was received by his rescuers, “He had sustained several shark bites,” said Coast Guard Administration Secretariat Director Hsieh Ching-chin. The man was pulled on board alive although no details on the shark(s) have been recovered.
Currently, a search party is out at sea looking for the remaining crew of the burnt Taiwanese fishing boat, currently to no avail. The missing crew is as follows: the Taiwanese captain, a Taiwanese sailor, and two Indonesian sailors.
