Bougainville Teen Found Alive Off Kiribati After 41 Days Adrift

An 18-year-old fisherman from Papua New Guinea, Luka Rahan, has been found alive after 41 days drifting across the Pacific, ABC News reported.¹ A group of Kiribati fishermen came across his boat on Tuesday, October 27. It was between the islands of Tarawa and Maiana, about 2,000 kilometers from his home in northern Bougainville.¹⁴

He was alone and severely dehydrated. He is now recovering in hospital in Tarawa, Kiribati’s capital, and will be sent home once he is well enough.¹⁴

The rescue is a relief, but it is not a fully happy ending. Rahan’s cousin set out on the trip with him and died at sea.¹³

A fishing trip that didn’t come home

Rahan told The National, a Papua New Guinea newspaper, that the two left on September 16, Papua New Guinea’s Independence Day. They caught plenty of yellowfin tuna. The engine failed on the way back.³

There was no anchor on board, so once the motor gave out, the boat had nothing to hold it in place and began to drift.¹ The sources do not describe the route it took.

His cousin did not survive

According to The National, Rahan’s cousin, 16-year-old Cletus Manman, died on the 32nd day of the drift, nine days before the rescue, and Rahan had to put his body overboard.³ ABC reported its understanding that the cousin died at sea about a week before Rahan was found.¹

A countryman at the bedside

Jonathan Anthony Kunau, an engineer from Papua New Guinea who works in Tarawa, visited Rahan in hospital. He helped translate between Rahan and local authorities and health workers. He said Rahan was responsive and getting his strength back.¹⁴

Kunau explained why he went to see Rahan.⁴

“He’s from my country, he’s my countryman. I need to be there for him, make him feel at home.”

He also urged fishermen to carry a compass, an anchor and a phone in case of emergencies.² Rahan’s boat was missing one of those three, and it was the one that might have stopped the drift.

A second long drift in about a month

This is the second time in about a month that Bougainvilleans adrift at sea have ended up in Kiribati. Three people from Nissan Island had earlier made it home after roughly 70 days adrift.¹²

Back in Bougainville, North Bougainville MP Francesca Semoso and the Bougainville Disaster Office confirmed they had received a report of Rahan’s rescue.³ For now, he remains in hospital in Tarawa while he recovers for the trip home.⁴