A Coast Guard 45-foot Response Boat-Medium crew from Station Honolulu safely transported the man from the motor vessel Nikkei Verde offshore of Honolulu to the Coast Guard Base Wednesday morning to meet awaiting EMS in stable condition.
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He said that his three crewmates had died at sea but he had survived by eating fish and seagulls. “This mariner had great fortitude and is very fortunate the crew of the Nikkei Verde happened upon him, as the area he was in is not heavily trafficked”. The crew of the Nikkei Verde picked Olaya up and brought him near Honolulu.
On Wednesday, a 29-year-old Colombian national arrived safely in Honolulu following a two-month ordeal at sea and a very lucky rescue by a merchant vessel. John MacKinnon, Joint Rescue Coordination Center chief with the Coast Guard’s 14th District, in the statement.
The Coast Guard said it is not investigating.
Speaking through a Coast Guard interpreter, the survivor said he “thanked God that he has life” and lamented the deaths of his companions, saying he “would have loved it if his friends were here with him”.
A merchant ship spotted the man adrift more than 2,000 miles southeast of Hilo, Hawaii in late April.
A Columbian mariner was rescued after two months at sea in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, according to CBS News.
Petty Officer 2nd Class Tara Molle says the mariner isn’t a US citizen. The men’s 23-foot skiff boat became “disabled”, according to CBS.
U.S. Coast Guard/AP The unnamed Colombian sailor (r.) set sail more than two months ago with three of his friends before the engine died, leaving them stranded.
She says the Coast Guard’s responsibility in this case was to make sure the man was rescued and brought to safety.
The bodies of the three other men were not on board the skiff when it was located. The 600-foot bulk carrier then transferred him to a small Coast Guard boat, which brought him to shore.
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Colombia’s consulate in San Francisco helped the man and paid for his return home, where he is with his wife and family.
