‘Miracle’ as sailor missing for two weeks found alive in life raft off US coast
A man who went missing at sea for almost two weeks has been found alive, floating in a life raft about 70 miles off Washington state, on the west coast of the US.
The fisherman was spotted by a group of Canadian good Samaritans, two days after the US Coast Guard Pacific Northwest had suspended its search for him.
The man, who has not been identified, departed Grays Harbor in Washington state on 12 October 2023 in the 13-metre boat Evening, with one other passenger aboard. The men were reported missing when they did not return to the area on 15 October as planned.
The Pacific Northwest Coast Guard said in a social media post it had searched 14,000 square miles of water before suspending the search on Wednesday (25 October 2023).
It’s not clear how the rescuers located the life raft, but the Coast Guard has shared a photo of their vessel approaching the stricken mariner, who is sitting up in the raft.
King-TV in Seattle identified the rescuers as Ryan Planes and his uncle John from Sooke, a town on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.
“I saw what looked like a life raft in the distance and ran inside and put the binoculars on him and then he shot off a flare,” Ryan Planes told the network.
“We pulled him on board. He gave me a big hug and it was emotional,” John Planes continued.
The rescued man told the pair that he had been alone on the raft for 13 days, and that he caught a salmon after running out of food.
“We made him breakfast. He drank three bottles of water,” John continues. “He was pretty hungry, poor guy.”
Officials report the rescued mariner is in a stable condition, and was transported back to shore by the Canadian Coast Guard and another Canadian rescue agency.
#BreakingNews (1/2) #UPDATE 1 of the 2 missing mariners was located alive in a life raft approx. 70 miles NW of Cape Flattery, by good Samaritans. The man was transported to shore by @CoastGuardCAN in coordination with @VicJRCC_CCCOS. He's reported to be in stable condition. pic.twitter.com/Qb2QhwIKb3
— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) October 26, 2023
“Although the roof of (the life raft) is bright orange, it’s still tough to see out there, you know, the human eye can only see about 10 miles in the water, and thankfully, they were just lucky enough [to see it] but also just the fact that those good Samaritans were able to have the wherewithal to go and investigate and stop and see that raft,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmeier tells Canada’s Global News. “It’s definitely a true miracle here.”
The Coast Guard has confirmed that the other passenger remains missing, adding that the incident ‘remains under investigation’. It is not clear if the search will now be resumed.
Images courtesy of US Coast Guard.
