Rosalon Frans Cayon, 31, and other trawlers had set out from Buliluyan Port in Palawan Island, the Philippines, to catch tuna in the South China Sea on Dec. 20.

They left at 4 a.m. and rowed some 30 miles offshore to fill their containers with fish to sell at the market for one last payday before the Christmas and New Year holidays, according to the Viral Free Press.

On Dec. 23, after meeting their fishing quotas, the group decided to return to port, but Rosalon was left behind as his aging boat had sprung a leak.