Castaway was found in the Pacific Ocean several days after the search stopped

A castaway on a lifeboat was rescued by an oil tanker on Friday in the Pacific Ocean, 950 kilometers east of the Marquesas Islands, after several days of a hiatus in the search for help, the High Commission of the Republic in French Polynesia.

American adventurer Aaron Carrota, who left South America on a world tour alone on the rowing boat, Smiles, launched an emergency beacon on May 31, precisely on a call from the High Commission.

It had electrical damage and its signal was not picked up afterward. Five merchant ships and four pleasure boats took part in the search, and the search stopped on June 12.

But on Thursday, the boat’s distress beacon was again picked up in the area of ​​responsibility of the JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Centre), which is coordinating relief in French Polynesia.

The High Commission said the smiles were turned away by a wave that set off the beacon, and Arun Karuta got into his lifeboat.

JRCC then took advantage of the presence of a USCG C130 Hercules in Polynesia, an American research aircraft, which came for another rescue mission. On the same day, this plane spotted the castaway in his canoe in an area devoid of islands and few frequented by ships, east of the Marquesas Archipelago.

The nearest boat, the Baker Spirit oil tanker, is 390 kilometers away. He diverted and found the castaway safe and sound eighteen hours later.

The tanker resumed its voyage to Hawaii. Castaway should be disembarked in Honolulu on June 25th.