After three days on a deserted island, the men were spotted by a US Navy plane and rescued. Photo: US Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific/Facebook
It’s not every day someone actually gets stranded on a deserted island. Deserted islands probably aren’t that easy to find anymore. But three men in a small skiff found one when their boat capsized on their way to the Micronesian island of Weno, and ended up being stranded on it for three days.
On Tuesday, after the families of the men reported them missing, the US Coast Guard sent out a search party. A Navy plane spotted the men on an remote island called Fanadik, a few hundred miles to the north of Papua New Guinea. They had spelled out “help” in the sand with palm leaves, and were waving their life jackets at the plane.
According to reports, the skiff flipped after being hit by a wave. Fortunately, the men were able to swim to the nearby island.
“After a large wave reportedly swamped their skiff, these men swim [sic] nearly 2 miles at night,” wrote the U.S. Coast Guard Hawaii Pacific on Facebook. “Upon arrival to the island they built the help sign and waited for rescue. The Coast Guard was notified Tuesday by the Chuuk search and rescue liaison that the mariners were overdue.”
After the men were reported missing, the Coast Guard used a program called AMVER, which enlists commercial vessels in the area to assist in searches. They also asked the Navy for help, who deployed the P-8A crew who located the victims.
A few hours after being spotted, the men were picked up by a local boat and taken to hospital, a happy end to a story that could have ended very, very badly.
