5 People Found Alive in Kiribati After About 3 Months Adrift From Micronesia

Five people, including two children, were found alive on Fanning Island (Tabuaeran) in Kiribati on Sunday, Nov. 1, after about three months adrift in a small boat. They were among nine people who left Murilo, in Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, on July 30 for a one-hour trip to Ruo. The fate of the other four has not been revealed.¹

The group was caught in a storm on what ABC News (Australia) reported was a routine crossing between the two islands.¹ Their skiff was only about 20 feet (6 meters) long.²³

By the time villagers spotted it, the boat had drifted an estimated 5,400 kilometers (about 3,355 miles).¹ Stars and Stripes put Fanning Island at more than 3,300 miles from Ruo, the place the boat was supposed to reach within the hour.²

A search that came up empty

The US Coast Guard in Guam confirmed the skiff was reported missing after it failed to arrive in Ruo on July 30.³ Over 10 days, with help from US Navy and Air Force aircraft, searchers covered about 85,700 square kilometers of ocean without finding it.¹²³ The search was suspended on Aug. 9.¹

About three months later, villagers on Fanning Island saw the drifting boat and rescued the five people aboard. ABC and the Associated Press reported the rescue on Sunday, Nov. 1, while Stars and Stripes, citing the Chuuk governor’s office, reported it as Saturday.¹²³

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“Incredible and wonderful news these five folks were found and are receiving care,” the Coast Guard said in an email to the AP.³

Care on the island, and a request to bring them home

The local Uniting Church pastor took them in, and island medical staff treated them.¹

“The group has already been treated by our medical officials on the island,” said Kaotitaake Rakoroa, the Kiribati member of parliament for the area, as reported by ABC News. The five were advised to take the earliest flight to Kiritimati Island for further treatment.¹

Chuuk Governor Alexander Narruhn has asked the president of the Federated States of Micronesia to open diplomatic talks with Kiribati to get the survivors home.¹³

“There were nine people aboard the boat that went missing. Thanks be to God for his love and mercy that five of the nine people have been found.”

Narruhn said that in a statement on Sunday evening, reported by ABC News. He added: “We continue to pray for their four companions.”¹

The five survivors have not spoken publicly about their time at sea and have asked for privacy.¹