Ecuadorian navy rescues fishermen who spent 55 days adrift in the Pacific

Five fishermen who spent 55 days adrift at sea arrived on Saturday at a port in the Galápagos after being rescued by a tuna boat, the Ecuadorian navy said on X.

Five fishermen, who were rescued by an Ecuadorian tuna fishing boat after being adrift for 55 days, on the beach in the Galapagos.

The three Peruvians and two Colombians had been missing since mid-March and were found on May 7 by the fishing vessel Aldo.

The fishermen had reported damage to the boat’s alternator two days after setting sail from Pucusana Bay, to the south of Peru’s capital Lima, the navy said in a separate post on Friday. The failure caused communication and navigation tools to malfunction, frigate captain María Fares told the Associated Press, adding that the men had no power on the boat.

“They had no starter, lights and anything that a battery generates,” she said. To survive, they had to “take rusted water out of the engine [and] when a fish passed by, they caught it and parboiled it to eat”. They also drank rain and sea water to survive, Fares added.

The men are in stable condition and the navy said it was coordinating with local and foreign authorities to ensure their safe return to their respective countries.

Earlier this year, another Peruvian fisherman, 61-year-old Máximo Napa, spent 95 days at sea alone. He was also rescued by an Ecuadorian vessel and returned to Lima in mid-March to be reunited with his family.
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Credit: Associated Press