Rescuers found three men on a desert island after spotting their help signal, spelled out with palm leaves. Image source: U.S. Coast Guard.
Three fishermen were rescued from a desert island after using palm fronds to spell out “help” on the shore.
The United States Coast Guard confirmed in a statement that the trio were found in good health on Tuesday 9 April.
All three men are experienced mariners in their 40s, though their names and citizenship have not been released.
Their niece reported the fishermen missing on 6 April after they failed to return from an Easter Sunday fishing trip six days earlier.
The US Navy and Coast Guard launched search and rescue efforts from a base in Guam to cover a search area spanning more than 78,000 square nautical miles.
Poor weather conditions initially hindered aerial assistance.
On 8 April, a navy reconnaissance jet spotted the makeshift “help” sign and relayed the stranded men’s location to the Coast Guard.
Search and rescue coordinator Lieutenant Chelsea Garcia said, “this act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location”.
Coast Guard crewmembers found the castaways on Pikelot atoll, an uninhabited and remote island in the Federated States of Micronesia.
The men were stranded on the island after water damaged their boat’s motor.
They told rescuers that they had access to food and water, eating coconuts and drinking from a freshwater well.
Rescue team member Eugene Halishlius was surprised to discover that the three men were his relatives.
“I could see their faces, ‘whoa! Who’s this guy pulling up that can speak our language?’” Halishlius told CNN.
After giving the men his surname, the fishermen learned that their rescuer was one man’s third cousin and the others’ fourth cousin.
“It’s a crazy world,” said Halishlius.
The Coast Guard returned the men and their damaged vessel to safety on Polowat Atoll, Federated States of Micronesia.
This is the second rescue of three castaways from Pikelot in four years.
In August 2020, the Australian Defence Force rescued three Micronesian sailors from the island.
They had also used the palm leaves to signal for help, spelling out “SOS” on the sand.
