Castaways rescued from remote Pacific island after writing ‘Help’ with palm leaves
The search began on Saturday when a woman contacted the Coast Guard, reporting that her three uncles had not returned home after almost a week away
Rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard
Three men who were stranded on a remote Pacific island for over a week were rescued by the U.S. Coast Guard. The men were found on Pikelot, an uninhabited island about 100 miles northwest of their home, alongside their damaged boat on Sunday by an American military aircraft. The lost men were experienced mariners in their 40s who had set sail on March 31 from Polowat Atoll, an island that is part of the Federated States of Micronesia, in a 20-foot open skiff powered by an outboard motor.
The search began on Saturday when a woman contacted the Coast Guard, reporting that her three uncles had not returned home after almost a week away. The Coast Guard embarked on the search with a U.S. Navy aircraft crew.
Men Use Palm Leaves to Spell Out ‘HELP’
Pikelot is a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean covered in palm trees and bushes, measuring less than 2,000 feet in length. The men successfully spelled out “HELP” on the beach using palm leaves, which proved to be a crucial factor in their discovery.
In 2020, three other men whose boat ran out of fuel wrote “SOS” in the sand, allowing them to be spotted by American rescuers.
The Coast Guard dropped the stranded men a radio from a military aircraft sent from Hawaii, establishing a line of communication. The aircraft crew deployed survival packages to help the men, and on Tuesday, a Coast Guard ship, the USCGC Oliver Henry, arrived at the island and picked up the men to bring them back home. The men were in good health and had access to food and water, but their skiff had been damaged, and its engine was not functional.
This week’s rescue is not the first from Pikelot involving huge letters spelled out on the sand. In 2016, three men swam two miles to a tiny island after their boat overturned. They wrote “HELP” on the sand, and the Coast Guard rescued them.
You might also be interested in: Reliance Foundation unveils Vantara Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre in Jamnagar
