Three adults and two children who disappeared during a routine one-hour boat trip in July have been rescued near a remote island in Kiribati after spending nearly three months at sea, while authorities continue investigating the fate of four missing passengers.
By yourNEWS Media Newsroom
TARAWA, Kiribati — Five people, including two children, have been rescued after drifting approximately 3,400 miles across the Pacific Ocean for nearly three months in a small boat that disappeared during a routine trip between islands in the Federated States of Micronesia. The survivors were found Sunday, Nov. 1, near Fanning Island in Kiribati, more than 90 days after their vessel went missing, but four other people who originally boarded the boat remain unaccounted for.
The group was among nine passengers who departed July 30 on what should have been a one-hour crossing between the islands of Murilo and Ruo in Micronesia’s Chuuk state. According to an Australian Broadcasting Corporation investigation published Nov. 2, the 20-foot skiff encountered a storm that pushed it off course, leaving its passengers stranded in the open ocean without a known means of returning home.
Villagers on Fanning Island, also known as Tabuaeran, discovered the drifting vessel Sunday and brought the five survivors ashore. The three adults and two boys were identified as Wanis Weita, Wboy Weita, Akinis David, Paul Paul and Tedwin Paul, according to photographs and information provided to ABC by local contacts. Their discovery came after an extensive U.S.-led search had failed to locate the boat during the summer.
The U.S. Coast Guard confirmed to The Associated Press that the vessel had been reported missing after failing to return to Ruo Island. Coast Guard personnel, assisted by U.S. Navy and Air Force aircraft, conducted a 10-day search covering approximately 33,000 square miles before suspending the operation Aug. 9 without finding the passengers.
“Incredible and wonderful news these five folks were found and are receiving care,” the Coast Guard said in a statement. “Our profound condolences to family and friends of those who did not arrive with them.”
The survivors were severely dehydrated and malnourished when they reached shore, according to local medical personnel. Nursing officer Paukin Tororo told ABC that all five received intravenous fluids and were beginning to respond to treatment, although their physical condition remained weak after months at sea.
“They can give a smile face, they show the sign they want to eat,” Tororo said.
Kiribati parliament member Kaotitaake Rakoroa said the survivors were being cared for by a pastor at the local Uniting Church after receiving initial medical attention. Because Fanning Island is a remote coral atoll with limited healthcare facilities and transportation connections, Rakoroa recommended transferring the group to Kiritimati Island for further treatment.
“The group has already been treated by our medical officials on the island,” Rakoroa said.
Fanning Island is part of Kiribati’s Line Islands, a remote group of atolls in the central Pacific. The estimated 5,400-kilometer journey from Micronesia illustrates the extraordinary distance the small vessel traveled before reaching land. Authorities have not established precisely how the survivors obtained food or drinking water during the ordeal, and the five have requested privacy rather than immediately discussing their experience with reporters.
The fate of the other four passengers remains unknown. Officials have not confirmed whether they died at sea, became separated from the surviving group or encountered other circumstances during the voyage. The Coast Guard said it was continuing to gather information about what happened before the boat reached Kiribati.
Chuuk state Gov. Alexander Narruhn welcomed the rescue in a statement Sunday and said he had begun coordinating with the Kiribati government to arrange the survivors’ return home.
“There were nine people aboard the boat that went missing. Thanks be to God for his love and mercy that five of the nine have been found,” Narruhn said. “We continue to pray for their four companions.”
Narruhn also requested diplomatic assistance from the president of the Federated States of Micronesia to facilitate the group’s transportation. Family members have reportedly established contact with some survivors, although arrangements for their repatriation remain under discussion.
The incident follows several other remarkable survival stories involving small vessels drifting across the Pacific. In October, an 18-year-old fisherman from Papua New Guinea, Luka Rahan, was rescued near Kiribati after 41 days at sea. Rahan and his cousin had encountered engine problems during a fishing trip from Bougainville, leaving their boat drifting approximately 1,200 miles before rescuers located him. His cousin died during the ordeal.
Another group of three people from Bougainville survived approximately 70 days at sea before being rescued near Kiribati in October. Those survivors reported eating raw turtle meat and cocoa while awaiting rescue.
The incidents highlight the dangers of maritime travel between isolated Pacific islands, where relatively short crossings can become life-threatening when storms, engine failures or navigation problems carry small vessels into open water. Limited communications equipment and the vast distances separating islands can make locating missing boats exceptionally difficult, even with aircraft and maritime search operations.
For the five survivors found Sunday, the immediate priorities are medical recovery and transportation home. Their rescue has brought relief to families who had spent months without news, although the disappearance of their four companions remains unresolved as authorities seek to reconstruct the circumstances of the voyage.
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