Quito, Ecuador
AP
–
Five fishermen who spent 55 days at sea arrived on Saturday in a port of the Galapagos islands after being rescued by a tuna, said the Ecuadorian navy on X.
The three Peruvians and two Colombians had been missing since mid-March and were found on May 7 by an Ecuadorian boat called Aldo.
The fishermen had reported damage to the alternator of the boat two days after putting the sails of Pucusana bay, south of the capital of Peru Lima, the navy said in a separate article on Friday.
The failure caused a dysfunction of communication and navigation tools, told the Associated Press of the Ecuadorian Navy frigate, adding that they had no power on the boat.
“They had no starter, lights and all that a battery generates,” she said. To survive, they had to “remove rusty water from the engine (and) when a fish has passed, they caught it and drove it to eat”. The prices added that they also drank rain and sea water to survive.
The men are in a stable state and the navy said that it coordinated with the local and foreign authorities to ensure their return safely in their respective countries.
Earlier this year, another Peruvian fisherman, Máximo Napa, 61, spent 95 days at sea only. He was also rescued by an Ecuadorian ship and returned to Lima in mid-March to find his family.
