After drifting for roughly three months on the Pacific Ocean in a small vessel, five people, including two children, have been successfully rescued. According to reports from the Australian broadcaster ABC and the British newspaper The Times, villagers on Fanning Island in the nation of Kiribati discovered the drifting boat on Sunday and brought the survivors aboard.
The group originally consisted of nine people who departed on July 30 for what was intended to be a one-hour crossing between the islands of Murilo and Ruo in Micronesia. However, they were caught in a storm during the journey. Following a ten-day search operation involving aircraft from the US Navy and the US Air Force, the US Coast Guard in Micronesia suspended the search efforts.
The five survivors were discovered approximately 5400 kilometers from their point of origin. They have not yet made any public statements regarding their experiences. It remains unclear how they managed to survive at sea for such an extended period or what happened to the four other missing individuals. Upon arrival, the group received initial medical care on Fanning Island, a remote coral atoll located in the central Pacific.
This incident is not the first of its kind in Kiribati waters. In October, an 18-year-old fisherman from Papua New Guinea was found after spending 41 days at sea; his cousin had died prior to that discovery. Additionally, three other individuals from Papua New Guinea drifted for approximately 70 days in September before being taken aboard a foreign merchant vessel between Hawaii and Kiribati. Those two men and one woman reportedly sustained themselves by eating raw turtle meat, cocoa, and dried coconut flesh.
Sources: Der Spiegel.