The five were the skipper, Kamaruzaman Awi, 43, his brother Roslin Awi, 38, two cousins, Mohamad Zamri Ab Rahman, 43, and Abdullah Ab Rahman, 25, and a friend Zakaria Mamat, 39.

They returned to Kuala Dungun Jetty at 9am today, after being adrift when their engine failed to restart because the battery went dead.

All were fatigued and were brought to the Dungun Hospital for medical checks.

Kamaruzzaman told Bernama they were due to return to their homes to celebrate Aidilfitri after four days at sea but failed to restart the engine on July 1 when they were ready to return.

The Vietnamese fishermen found them at 6pm yesterday and helped to restart their engine.

“We ran out of food …we are grateful to have survived,” he said.