Two Marshall Islands fishermen have finally managed to reach the shore of a small atoll, after six weeks of wandering in the Pacific, local authorities announced on Thursday, but no information has been given on the fate of a third man. Their small boat, equipped only with an outboard motor, docked at Namoluk, the smallest atoll in Micronesia, some 1,600 kilometers from where they left. "They were skinny and weak as you would expect after 40 days at sea," said Marshall Islands secretary of health, Jack Niedenthal.
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They were identified as Godfrey Capelle and Thomas Benjamin, but no information was given on the third person who accompanied them at the start, Junior Joram. The three men had left Ebeye Island in the Marshall Islands on April 2 for a fishing trip. However, their boat quickly encountered engine problems, in strong winds and heavy seas, and the search then launched by the coast guard did nothing.
Reports of shipwreck and wandering in the Pacific are not uncommon. In 2006, Mexicans had been recovered safely in the Marshall Islands after nine months at sea, and in 2014 an Salvadoran had been recovered in the same place after nine months of wandering in the Pacific.