Fishermen are rescued after 20 days adrift off the coast of Ceará

In the videos (see above), the fishermen sing songs like "Faz Um Milagre em Mim", by Régis Danese. They also recorded the moment when the FAB plane and the Navy ship sent to assist in the search and rescue operation approached the vessel they were on, this Friday morning (4).

The fishermen appear reading excerpts from the Bible, saying prayers and giving thanks. "You always have a purpose for us, no matter how much we 'had' a failure, you know what you're doing, everything at the right time. We've been adrift for 20 days, thank God we had supplies, but only we know what we went through", says one of them.

The vessel S.E Pescados was located this Thursday (3), approximately 480 kilometers away from Fortaleza. The fishing boat left Praia de Itarema, on the coast of Ceará, on August 17th and made the last contact on the 27th of the same month. Since then, the lack of communication has mobilized the search and rescue resources of the Brazilian Navy and the Brazilian Air Force (FAB).

According to the Air Force, the vessel was located by the SC-105 Amazonas aircraft, which, with the help of advanced communication systems, sensors and the aircraft's radar search engine, identified the fishing boat in the extensive maritime area.

The action was carried out by the Pelicano Squadron, based at the Campo Grande Air Base (BACG), in Mato Grosso do Sul. According to the FAB, after locating the fishing boat on the high seas, the aircraft headed to São Luís, in Maranhão, to refuel.

After refueling, the military plane returned to the area, remaining in flight over the boat to monitor the vessel and assist in guiding the Brazilian Navy's Ocean Patrol Vessel Araguari, which continued the rescue procedures.

The search and rescue actions were coordinated by Salvamar Nordeste, of the Brazilian Navy. The vessel S.E Pescados was intercepted by the Oceanic Patrol Vessel (NPaOc) Araguari at around 11pm on Thursday (3). The Navy team carried out a medical assessment and found that the six crew members were in good health.

The Navy reported that the fishing vessel was adrift due to a failure in its propulsion. According to the institution, the NPaOc Araguari would remain "in the vicinity of 'S.E Pescados', providing the necessary support until the arrival of a vessel hired by the owner, which will tow the fishing vessel to its port of origin".