32 days on water

I don't think I would have survived it.

Men on fishing trip survive 32 days on rainwater and raw fish after high winds blew their boat out into the Pacific

By Richard Shears

Four men who miraculously survived 32 days drifting in an open boat across 1,000 miles of the Pacific told their dramatic story for the first time today.

The four friends had been given up for dead before they were washed ashore on a remote island in the Papua New Guinea group, their tongues bloated from the salt in the raw fish they had lived on.

Last month the men had set out from their Pacific island nation of Kiribati in an 18ft wooden banana boat for a day's fishing. The vessel was powered by an outboard motor, but currents and strong winds carried them out to sea - and then they ran out of fuel.

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The survivors set off from their home nation of Kiribati in the Pacific last month
For the next 32 days they drifted helplessly, saving water from rain squalls to drink and using their lines to pull up raw fish, which they hungrily devoured.

They saw numerous ships, but despite their frantic waving, the other vessels continued on their way.
Tomorrow the group will be flown back to Kiribati.

Mr Tiubeta Been Rimon, a 35-year-old manager of the Kiribati airport, set out with 60-year-old retired sailor Ritiata Tebiri, retired lecturer Abota Roma Taribo, 49 and 32-year-old primary school teacher Tiaki Reke Tirikai.

Mr Rimon said: 'Our fishing trip turned into a nightmare because no-one stopped to help us.'

Speaking with difficulty, because of his salt-swollen tongue, from the remote New Ireland group of islands where they had been washed ashore, Mr Rimon said he was convinced other ships had seen their frantic attempts to attract attention.

'During the 32 days we were in the open sea we saw at least eight ships,' he said.

'Seven of them came fairly close to us, just to have a look at us, but then they kept going. They kept at a distance that was far enough away that we could not see the names on the side of the vessels and we had to watch in despair as they disappeared into the horizon.'

Mr Rimon said it was only survival skills of Mr Tebiri, the boat's skipper, which kept them alive.
He advised them on how often they should take a nibble of raw fish and ensured they drank the rain water they collected sparingly. He also helped keep their spirits up by relating stories of his years on the ocean.

'He managed to hold us together with his survival techniques,' said Mr Rimon.

Just as the group were giving up all hope as their boat drifted with the winds and the currents - coming frustratingly close to islands at times - their plight was noticed by a New Ireland fisherman who was unable to give them a tow but provided them with enough fuel to reach an island called Mussau in the New Ireland Province.

The men's problems were far from over, however. When they were just 100 yards from land, they ran out of fuel again.

But this time they were close enough to drift into the shore, where another fishermen helped them on to dry land.

'They were so dehydrated they could not talk,' said provincial disaster co-ordinator Mrs Elsie Wamburi.

'They needed to be given a lot of fluids but after treatment we were able to put them in touch with their families back in Kiribati. You can imagine how excited their families were to hear they were alive.'

Local government officials gave the friends money to buy clothes and supplies while they recovered.

'They are very lucky men,' said Mrs Wamburi.
Lost and found at sea

One of the most amazing survival stories to emerge from the Pacific Ocean involved three Mexican fishermen who were lost for almost a year, with two of their crew missing, presumed dead.
The three were found by a Taiwanese tuna fishing trawler between the Marshall Islands and Kiribati in 2006, having survived on rain water, sea birds and fish as they drifted for 11 months in their 25ft fibreglass boat.

A year earlier, two fishermen from Kiribati were rescued in waters off Papua New Guinea after drifting for 57 days in open seas, surviving on fish and rainwater.

They returned home to Kiribati in the company of two other fishermen, who had been lost for 'only' two weeks after their engine had also broken down.

In 1991 two fishermen drifted from Kiribati to Samoa for 177 days before they were rescued.

Remarkable stories of survival in the world's largest ocean go back to at least the second world war when an islander escaped from Japanese troops and was adrift for six months before being washed ashore on New Guinea.

But while there have been breathtaking escapes from death on the high seas, there have also been horror stories.

An Air New Zealand aircraft this week abandoned a three-day search covering thousands of square miles of the South Pacific looking for 29 Asian fishermen missing for weeks.

The search was launched after the burned-out hull of a Taiwanese-registered fishing boat was found drifting near Kiribati earlier this month, with no sign of the fate of the crew.