After 11 days adrift in the waters of the Pacific Ocean, the Colombian Navy during operations of control and comprehensive maritime security, rescued 180 nautical miles of the District of Buenaventura in the department of Valle del Cauca, three men of Panamanian nationality on board a boat that had suffered engine damage.
The ship was detected by the Colombian Navy units in the area and a Coast Guard boat was immediately sent to verify the situation, finding on board three men aged 21, 27 and 30, who stated that they had set sail at the village of Veracruz in Panama, transporting fuel to a fishing boat, to earn money. When they were returning to the port, the engine suffered a failure and they could not fix it, leaving it adrift.
The Coast Guard personnel transferred them to a Colombian Navy ship, where they were provided with medical assistance and food. When asked about how they managed to survive, they said “Drinking rainwater and eating bulging coconut, sea coconut, there was the current and the coconut gets in the middle of it and we split and ate the coconut."
Later, they were transported to the District of Buenaventura and put into custody of Migración Colombia for the respective procedures.
One of the rescued, said “thank you very much, I thank the Navy of Colombia for the support they gave us at the moment they picked us up and until the sun of today [because] they are supporting us to get back to our country.”
Source: Press – Navy of Colombia
