'They told us to travel on a bearing of 170 degrees, so that's what we did!' said Mohamed Najeeb, 30, who was the closest crewman relative of the owner of the vessel called 'Feenaa Mas' from Feeali island, Faafu atoll.

'Later on we realised that the weather had taken us past Gaaf Alif.

'We were told by the coastguard that we were outside the atolls and somewhere near Noonu atoll.'

The 'Feena Mas' was sailing to Gaaf Alif to collect sea cucumber, due to a shortage around the islands of Faafu atoll. Other fishing dhoanis from the atoll had been to Gaaf Alif but since this boat normally did reef and grouper fishing they had never travelled to Gaaf Alif before.

This trip was to become the most frightening and unforgettable of their lives.

On the 1st of October they left Feeali and travelled to Magoodhoo. There they loaded three barrels of diesel and went to Vilufushi late that afternoon.

The weather wasn't good.

The next day, after loading 1,500 coconuts from Fahala, an uninhabited island near Vilufushi, they went to Laam Maamendhoo.

On the same day they went to nearby Hithadhoo (Laam).

Before their departure from Hithadhoo for Gaaf Alif they got directions from people there.

The navigator was Mohamed Najeeb's older brother Ahmed Najeeb.

Also on board were Ibrahim Abu-Bakuru 19, from Daisy Villa, Kurendhoo, Lhaviyani atoll, and Ahmed Naseem from Blue Light, Feeali.

'We just didn't understand the weather circumstances that day,' he said.

It takes only five hours to reach Gaaf Alif from Hithadhoo (Laam). But after that time they still couldn't see any islands. Though the compass showed the exact direction, instead of green tops they saw only clouds on the horizon... just an open sea.

'Though we couldn't see anything we kept on going. After ten hours we had found nothing so we turned to return to Laam atoll. Two nights of travelling later we couldn't find Laam either.

'We stopped the engine and waited. The sea had become very rough, ' said Najeeb.

The dhoani (fishing boat) drifting as they waited, there was no sleeping that night. When they tried to make contact with their VHF set, the battery was washed overboard by a wave.

From that moment the crew began to lose hope.

The next day they started the engine again, but the engine refused to shift into forward gear. They raised the sail and travelled slowly in no particular direction.

'On the 5th of October we came across a small boat. It was then we realised we had left Maldives completely,' said Najeeb (who was talking to us along with two others of the crew).

It appeared to be a Sri Lankan boat and they waved for help. The Sri Lankan boat kept its distance so the dhoani sailed slowly closer.

'Some on the boat started threatening us with a knife. We got the impression from their hand gestures that they didn't want us any closer. We were frightened and sailed off. Their boat was long-line fishing.'

They came across many other boats like that but every one ignored them.

'Each time we found another boat our spirits lifted, but they didn't want to know us. We became very upset,' said Najeeb.

The only comfort was that at least there were people nearby.

The next day their hopes were renewed at the sight of a ship.

'It had an American flag and came up close. A man pointed a gun at us and near him were two others with water hoses,' said Najeeb.

That ship also went away. After that they met many other ships. Some came close and helped with food, water, fuel, and vegetables. But they refused to take the four distressed men onto their ships.

'Sometimes they would check our identity cards. Then they would ignore us and leave,' he said.

They were finally rescued by an oil tanker from the Bahamas on the 15th October, but even this ship at first refused to help.

'The ship came close and threw out a rope. The captain checked our identity cards and other things and then offered us food. By this time the weather had battered away five planks from the side of the dhoani. This made us very frightened. We knew we'd drown if they didn't take us on board. When we begged, they took us.' he said.

This happened about 800 miles from Maldives.

They abandoned the Rf 200,000 dhoani and boarded the tanker, watching as their empty vessel filled with water and drifted slowly away.

'We are sure the dhoani sank that night,' he said. 'And we still owe Rf 170,000 for the engine.'

The tanker's captain was an Indian, and according to Najeeb he was a kind man.

'When we were aboard I gave him the mobile phone number of a yolung relative of mine in Malé. I contacted him and told him everything and a short time later the coastguard had contacted the tanker and organised everything.'

The tanker went straight to Singapore and arrived there four days later. Within 24 hours they were in Malé.

They had never had an experience like this before.

'I'd never work at sea for a living. Nobody can imagine what we went through. Only those who were there can understand,' Najeeb said looking at the faces of the others.