Six Peruvian fishermen who were lost at sea for 21 days are back on land with their families, daily El Comercio reported.
The small-scale fishermen went out to sea from Chimbote. On February 2, the boat lost contact with land about 10 miles offshore, between the coastal towns of Huarmey and Casma.
The boat, the Bendicion de Dios III, or God’s Blessing III, was dragged north and out to the high seas by the current when its motor stopped working due to a lack of oil.
The fishermen were unable to communicate for help as their radio also malfunctioned.
The fishermen were eventually spotted on Sunday some 273 miles offshore the port of Paita, in Piura, by a tuna fishing vessel from Ecuador, the B/P Fortica. A Peruvian Coast Guard patrol towed the boat into Paita.
“We were desperate,” said Javier Acosta, one of the survivors. “We were desperate to drink water, we had no water, food… We slept, we got up. We looked at the sky, nothing else, the stars.”
The Naval medical team in Paita reported that the fishermen were suffering from dehydration and physical exhaustion.
“We thought we weren’t going to make it back, that we were going to remain lost. But, thank God, a boat found us,” he said. Baldera said he wasn’t eager to get back to fishing, but he may have to. “It depends, it is the only work that we have,” he said.
