Fisherman rescued after more than three months at sea! He ate cockroaches, birds and turtle
San Juan de Marcona/Chimbote (Peru) - What sounds like the stuff of a great sailor's novel really happened to Máximo Napa (61) from Peru : For more than three months, he drifted through international waters completely alone and lost. This week, the big surprise: the fisherman survived! There was an emotional reunion with his family.
On December 7 last year, Máximo Napa Castro left the port of San Juan de Marcona in southern Peru in his wooden boat "El Gatón 2", as reported by the news agencies Andina and AFP.
According to Andina, poor weather conditions caused the 61-year-old to deviate from his route and ultimately end up in the open sea. Contact with his family was lost on December 17.
With the help of the fishing community and shipping authorities, his relatives launched an unsuccessful search for Napa. For months, the Peruvian drifted alone across the open sea with virtually no food and ultimately no drinking water.
It was only this week, on March 11, that the crew of an Ecuadorian ship discovered him! According to AFP information, Napa was now around a thousand kilometers further north near the port city of Chimbote. According to the navy, his health was in good condition, but he was completely dehydrated.
"It seemed like I wouldn't survive, because I hadn't eaten or drunk water for 15 days," the 61-year-old told the Peruvian news agency Andina.
Video from Peruvian news agency shows emotional homecoming of Máximo Napa
Máximo Napa ate cockroaches, birds and a turtle, made fire from his boat
An emotional reunion with his family took place on land. His daughter Inés Napa Torres confirmed the rescue on her Facebook page and spoke of a "happy day for the whole family".
She told radio station RPP: "It's a miracle that they found my dad [...]. We never gave up hope."
Jorge González, the harbour master of the Peruvian navy, said according to AFP: "Mr. Napa arrived in good physical condition. He was able to walk and wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition."
Máximo Napa's provisions were only supposed to last for 15 days. In the end, he had to collect rainwater and make a fire with the wood from his boat to cook.
The sailor told local media that he had survived by eating cockroaches, birds and a turtle. "I didn't want to die for my mother. I have a two-month-old granddaughter, I held on to that. I thought about my mother every day," explained the 61-year-old.