Boy rescued from fishing boat after 11 days alone in Pacific

A 14-YEAR-OLD boy has been rescued after drifting alone in the Pacific for hundreds of miles in a 15ft boat.

Bwanikatang Tebuanna was at sea for 11 days without food before he was rescued in the Marshall Islands after being spotted by a helicopter pilot.

The boat had an on-board motor but the teenager had no idea how to use it.

The pilot, who was searching for tuna, also spotted another boat of drifters from the Pacific island of Kiribati containing three fishermen who had spent 28 days at sea.

The boy was picked up five miles away from the fishermen, but they were not aware of each other.

Rescues of drifting fishermen from Kiribati are common in the Pacific, though it is unusual for two boats to be spotted simultaneously.

The three fishermen were in a wooden boat that had suffered engine problems. They had fishing gear and were able to survive by catching fish and sharks.

For one of the men, 57-year-old Arawatau Miito, it was the second time he has been rescued after drifting at sea.

All four were taken to hospital and one of the fishermen was treated for dehydration. The four are due to be returned to Kiribati on Sunday.

For decades, the record for drifting was held by two fishermen from Kiribati who spent 177 days at sea in 1992 before coming ashore in Samoa.

However, this was eclipsed in 2014 by the incredible voyage of Jose Salvador Alvarenga, a fisherman from El Salvador, who was fishing off the coast of Mexico and eventually washed up in the Marshall Islands after spending 438 days at sea.

Mr Alvarenga’s young crewmate died during the early part of the journey.