The three men were located Tuesday night on the tiny Pikelot Atoll, part of the Federated States of Micronesia, where they were surviving on coconuts. They were rescued after the coordination of the US Coast Guard located in the region and the US Navy.
Three other people were rescued years ago on that same atoll thanks to a different message in the sand. Only the signal from the sailors' palm tree alerted authorities to her whereabouts, when a Coast Guard HC-130J Hercules aircraft spotted her from the sky. It is the first time that authorities have rescued sailors stranded on the island. In 2020, three Micronesians were found by the Australian Defense Force after they were in Pikelot by they were not that that authorities had not spotted them. The Coast Guard added that anyone going out to sea must carry a radio that can indicate their position in an emergency. The men are all in their 40s and are related to each other, and that they used palm branches to make their desperate plea.