In this photo released by the Arab-based container vessel Al Yamamah, a raft carrying tsunami survivor, Indonesian Ari Afrizal, drifts on the sea Sunday, Jan. 9, 2005 before being rescued and brought to the West Port, outskirts of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Ari, 21, says he drifted on the Indian Ocean for two weeks, living on coconuts that he pried open with his teeth while floating on pieces of wood, then a broken boat, and finally a fishing raft. (AP Photo/Al Yamamah, HO)

Associated Press Writer

BANDA ACEH, Indonesia — A tsunami survivor rescued after 15 days adrift in the Indian Ocean recounted Tuesday how he lived on coconuts that floated by, tearing them open with his teeth. Indonesia, meanwhile, said it hoped to ease the bottleneck of aid flights by opening a second airport north of Sumatra island.

Also Tuesday, Indonesia’s military chief extended a new cease-fire offer to rebels in Aceh province, the region hit hardest by the Dec. 26 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 150,000 people across southern Asia.

Rebels in the area welcomed the proposal made by Gen. Endriartono Sutarto during a news conference in Banda Aceh.

‘‘We have to work together to help Aceh,’’ Sutarto said.

The 21-year-old survivor, Ari Afrizal, was picked up Sunday by a container ship after being swept out to sea by the tsunami from a beachfront construction site in Aceh. He is the third Indonesian to be rescued and brought to Malaysia.

‘‘The earthquake lasted about 15 minutes,’’ Ari said after the ship docked at Port Klang near the capital of Kuala Lumpur. ‘‘Then the waves came, big, big waves that slammed down hard on us.’’

Ari, who appeared fit despite the ordeal, said he saw four of his friends grab pieces of debris or uprooted trees, ‘‘but we drifted away from each other as the waves rolled us out further into the sea.’’

For a while, he lay on a 5-foot-long plank, weak and exhausted.

‘‘My throat was burning. The sun was hot. I had cuts all over my body. The salt water was stinging. I couldn’t even find my voice to call out to other survivors. Eventually they all drifted away and I was all alone,’’ he said.