Four men from Colombia set sail on a skiff in the Pacific Ocean to catch fish. The motor on the boat failed when they least expected it and they were left stranded in the middle of the ocean. Two months later, a Panamanian merchant ship spotted the boat drifting about 2,150 miles south-east of Hawaii. Sadly, there was just one fisherman remaining on the boat.
The merchant ship rescued and dropped off the 29-year-old man at a coastguard vessel near Hawaii. He was later taken to Honolulu.
The lone survivor told the coastguard that the other three had died after handing over their passports. The man, whose name hasn’t been disclosed, said that he had survived feeding on fish and seagulls.
He “thanked God that he has life” and lamented the deaths of his companions saying he “would have loved it if his friends were here with him”.
According to Lt Cmdr John MacKinnon of the coastguard’s 14th district in Honolulu the man was lucky to have been even found.
“The Pacific is vast and inherently dangerous,” MacKinnon said. He added, “This mariner had great fortitude and is very fortunate the crew of the Nikkei Verde happened upon him, as the area he was in is not heavily trafficked.”
