With the help of oranges, coconuts and prayer, two men from the Solomon Islands survived 29 days in the southern Pacific Ocean before being rescued 400 kilometers from their home off the coast of Papua New Guinea. Livae Nanjikana and Junior Qoloni were out and about in Solomon’s Sea, notorious for its unpredictability, when they encountered rough weather just three hours after starting their journey on September 3rd.
While they were fighting rain, strong winds and poor visibility with their seven-meter-long boat, the battery of their GPS had also failed, they reported to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation on Friday. They switched off the engine to save fuel, but meanwhile their boat drifted further and further out to sea.
Prayed day and night
For the first nine days at sea, the two men ate oranges that they had packed for their voyage. Then they made do with rainwater, coconuts floating in the water – and “our faith in God,” as Nanjikana reported. They prayed “day and night” and were finally heard: “God gave us the idea of building a device for sailing.” They would have done this with the help of paddles and canvas.
In this way, the two unlucky ones came close to the island of New Britain, which belongs to Papua New Guinea. In the distance they saw a fisherman. They restarted the engine, but ran out of fuel on the way to him. They “called and waved,” and finally the man saw them and paddled to them, Nanjikana said. You should have asked him where they were now.
After their wandering for weeks, preparations are being made for the two men to return to their homeland. (AFP)