The three sailors, all of them men in their 40s, embarked on Sunday, March 31, in a small boat measuring about six meters equipped with an outboard motor. They suffered a problem on the boat and were left stranded.
On April 6, the Guam Joint Rescue Subcenter (JRSC) received a distress call from a relative of the three sailors reporting that their three uncles had not returned from Pikelot Atoll, Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia. “HELP” was the message that the rescue teams flying over the area could read from the plane. It is the second rescue that has occurred in similar circumstances in a few years in Pikelot. In August 2020, an SOS message written on the beach of that same Pacific micro island was key for authorities to rescue three sailors who had been shipwrecked on the journey between the Pulawat and Pulap atolls. They spent three nights and two days outdoors, but the pattern in the sand was enough for the coast guard to locate and rescue them in perfect condition.