Man Found Clinging to Plastic Lid in Ocean

A man has been rescued by the U.S. Army after being found floating in the seaoff Indonesia.

The man was spotted by personnel aboard the USAV Palo Alto on September 1, clinging only to a plastic cooler lid 10 miles offshore from Obi Island, Indonesia.

"I noticed what looked like someone waving their arms, which is the signal for distress in water," Sergeant Seth Leonard, a watercraft engineer, said in a statement.

"I grabbed my binoculars to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me and that's when I saw someone about 1.5 miles directly in front of us."

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Richard Cordero confirmed the sighting via binoculars, and immediately announced to the ship that someone needed rescuing from the water.

"We practice these drills regularly; we literally train for this specific situation," said Cordero. "At that point, saving the man overboard became our number one priority and everyone just kicked into action."

After moving the ship towards the man, the mariners noticed that he was clinging to a small plastic cooler lid.

"As we neared the victim, we noticed he was keeping himself afloat by holding onto a plastic cooler lid," said Sergeant 1st Class Stefen Valencia, the assistant chief engineer. "It was about the size of a boogie board. I'm pretty sure that lid is what kept him alive."

The man was quickly pulled aboard and given dry clothes and food in the ship's sick bay. He was found to be an Indonesian fisherman, having clung to the cooler lid for several hours overnight after his boat capsized.

"We were able to overcome the language barrier and get enough information to pass a report up to our higher headquarters," said Cordero. "We were able to get his name, confirm he was an Indonesian fisherman, that his boat capsized, and that he was out there at least overnight."

Humans can't survive for very long floating in the ocean, as the water rapidly saps body heat, even at tropical temperatures like those off Indonesia.

The water temperatures off Indonesia vary around the high 70s and low 80s F, in which a person can survive for around 25 hours.

"He was of course thirsty and hungry, and very lethargic," Specialist Kristy Moore, the ship's medic, said. "But most of all, I think he felt relieved and just grateful that we found him. It's definitely a sea story we'll tell for a long time."

Google Translate was used by the mariners to communicate with the man, and he was collected by the Indonesian navy after coordination with the U.S. Embassy in the Indonesian capital Jakarta.

"As mariners, that's one of our duties, we have the obligation to save a life if there is someone in distress," said Cordero. "I'm really proud of how the crew reacted. Everyone demonstrated they are professional mariners."

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