A group of divers stranded on a deserted island were able to call for help on a newly-purchased IsatPhone Pro.
The 18 Mexicans had been enjoying a diving holiday in the Indonesian archipelago when their chartered boat, the Sea Safari III, hit an underwater reef in the middle of the night and started taking on water.
The decision was taken to abandon ship and head off in the lifeboats for nearby Mainyaifun island – one of more than 10,000 in the region.
Out of range But the ship’s VHF radio had been out of range for some time and so the crew had been unable to report their position or heading to harbourmasters in their home port of Sorong.
Moreover, they had no alternative means of communication. Or so they thought.
Their plight looked particularly grim since the group wasn’t expected back for another five days, and they faced a long and uncertain wait on the inhospitable and rocky island with just emergency supplies salvaged from the boat.
Lucky purchase
Fortunately, one of the divers had purchased an IsatPhone Pro global handheld phone from Inmarsat service provider Tecnor just days before he left Mexico on the trip.
He had bought the phone in case work colleagues needed to get in touch with him urgently.
So when the order to abandon ship was given he insisted on going back to his cabin to grab his phone and other valuables.
Report position
The man’s decision meant the group was able to contact the mainland and report their position on his IsatPhone Pro.
As it happened, the castaways later enjoyed a further stroke of luck when another diving party chanced upon the island while they were waiting to be rescued.
Safely back home, the IsatPhone Pro user said: “All the divers on that boat learned a valuable lesson from this voyage – a satellite phone could very well be the tool that saves your life in one of these situations.
“When you’re in an unknown, uninhabited location with no way to contact the outside world, it can mean the difference between life and death.”
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