Indonesian villagers fear two more fishing boats remain unaccounted for after the dramatic rescue of 11 fishermen from a small island about 300 kilometres west of Broome, Western Australia.
Ten of those fishermen had been aboard a vessel named Express, which hit trouble in waters off WA's north-west due to the destructive force of Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa.
All crew members on the Express survived for six days with no food or fresh water after their vessel washed onto Bedwell Island, a tiny patch of sand in the Rowley Shoals, before being spotted by a passing Australian Border Force (ABF) plane.
A rescue operation was launched to retrieve the stranded fishermen, who were transferred to Broome via helicopter and received medical support.
But eight fishermen who were aboard a second vessel, the Putri Jaya, are missing, feared drowned.
And villagers from Rote Island have told the ABC about two other boats that left at the same time — though travelling separately — that remain unaccounted for.
They are the Cahaya Alor and Tuan Muda.
It is understood there were nine people on board the Cahaya Alor, but it is unclear how many were aboard Tuan Muda.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) has been contacted for comment, and to confirm whether authorities are aware and searching for more boats.
Survivor lashed himself to water container
Text messages from AMSA to Indonesia's search and rescue agency BASARNAS, seen by the ABC, tell an incredible story of survival for one of the fishermen on board the Putri Jaya.
Rama Jalatino, 25, was on board the Putri Jaya when it hit heavy seas on April 12 and was battered by a wave which caused the engines to stall and the vessel began to sink.
Mr Jalatino tied himself to a large plastic water container before he jumped from the boat about 3:00am.
He said he swam for about 30 hours until he saw land and headed there.
Amazingly, that land was Bedwell Island, where he met the crew of the Express.
Mother shocked by ocean tragedy
The mother of one of the missing fishermen on the Putri Jaya said she was shocked by the news.
Kusmawati, 45, says her 27-year-old son Yamin Puling is missing.
"As a parent I'm so sad, I'm so upset and we're about to have Idul Fitri celebration but he's not with us. I'm so shocked,” she said.
"I'd like to ask the Australian government to please help search for him so that he can be found because he is the bread winner of our family and our only hope."
"Before he left, Yamin told me that he was going to Australia to find fish.
“He wanted to give some joy to me, his parents, to give us some money for Idul Fitri but it turned out he had encountered this tragedy.
"We're in utter shock. We want him to return."
Challenging night rescue
PHI Aviation's search and rescue expert Gordon Watt, whose company dispatched the rescue helicopter to the surviving fishermen, said they had constructed a makeshift camp on the beach next to where the Express had run aground.
He said the group had expressed "elation" when the PHI Aviation team arrived.
"The survivors were signalling they needed water and refreshments,' he said.
"They'd obviously been there for a number of days we understand ... in a very exposed position without water and food.
"They were very pleased to see our team to recover them back to the mainland."
Mr Watt said the rescue mission had been complicated by the fact that it was dark and unsafe for the helicopter to land on the sandy beach, forcing aviation staff to winch the men to safety.
"So [it was] a challenging rescue for the crew to conduct and we were all pleased they were able to do it safely and make it back to Broome," he said.
Rescue heroes say scene was 'out of Castaway'
PHI Aviation search and rescue captain Wayne Thompson described the operation as a "textbook mission".
"We saw survivors on the island, waving their hands frantically and when we got closer we were able to see a boat washed up on the shore line," Mr Thompson said.
"When we arrived, we were still unsure whether we would be able to land. A decision was made not to land, and to winch the survivors on board.
"It went really well – in total we were an hour and one minute on scene.
"It took us from daylight to dark, so we had to use night-vision goggles, which was a bit more challenging.
"They were probably quite scared. They were very thirsty and drank 20 bottles of water. They were hungry, very hungry."
"I think they were very fortunate Border Force saw them when they did. Chances are they might not have survived a lot longer.
"Their bodies were stressed; they were highly dehydrated already. They were so happy to see us.
"It was like a scene out of Castaway when we got there, the way they'd set up shade, there were holes dug, we think looking for water – literally like something out of a movie."
Winch operator Joel MacKenzie feared the worst when they came upon the fishermen.
"The boat had huge amounts of damage on both sides – it looked like it had hit something and then washed ashore," he said.
"We used a basket and put two of them into it at a time.
"Fuel was in the back of our minds – we had to get back to Broome. We had to go a long way on one tank of fuel."
More information needed: police commissioner
WA Police Commissioner Col Blanch said it was too early to know how involved police would be in the investigation.
"If it's determined that there have been deaths out at sea, then that would form part of our assessment for a potential coronial matter, subject to jurisdictional issues," he told ABC Radio Perth.
"I think the important thing is to speak to those 11 [fishermen], which border force will manage.
"Until we know why they were there, how they got there, who else was there, how many other boats … we need more information.
"It has been reported [there was] one other one [vessel] but we don't want to satisfy ourselves of that outcome until we've spoken to everyone involved.
"Were they sheltering in place, were they illegally fishing? I know there's a lot of questions out there in the public domain, and we just have to wait and see what the investigation finds."
