After six weeks of wandering in the Pacific, two fishermen from the Marshall Islands have finally managed to reach the shore of a small atoll, local authorities announced on Thursday, but no information has been given on the fate of a third man.
The two fishermen docked aboard their small boat, equipped only with an outboard motor, at Namoluk, the smallest atoll in Micronesia, some 1,600 km from where they left. "They were skinny and weak as you would expect after 40 days at sea," said Marshall Islands secretary of health, Jack Niedenthal.
Engine problems, wind and heavy seas
They were identified as Godfrey Capelle and Thomas Benjamin, but no information was given on the third person who accompanied them at the start, Junior Joram. The three men had left Ebeye Island in the Marshall Islands on April 2 for a fishing trip.
However, their boat quickly encountered engine problems, in strong winds and heavy seas, and the search then launched by the coast guard did nothing. Reports of shipwreck and wandering in the Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, Mexicans were recovered unharmed in the Marshall Islands after nine months at sea, and in 2014 an Salvadoran was recovered in the same place after sixteen months of wandering in the Pacific.
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