Five fishermen who spent 55 days adrift at sea arrive in the Galapagos Islands after rescue

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QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Five fishermen who spent 55 days adrift at sea arrived Saturday at a port in the Galapagos Islands after being rescued by a tuna boat, the Ecuadorian navy said on X.

The three Peruvians and two Colombians had been missing since mid-March and were found on May 7 by an Ecuadorian boat called Aldo.

The fishermen had reported damage to the boat’s alternator two days after setting sail from Pucusana Bay, to the south of Peru’s capital Lima, the navy said in a separate post on Friday.

The failure caused communication and navigation tools to malfunction, Ecuadorian navy Frigate Capt. Maria Fares told The Associated Press, adding that they had no power on the boat.

“They had no starter, lights and everything that a battery generates,” she said. To survive, they had to “take rusted water out of the engine (and) when a fish passed by, they caught it and parboiled it to eat.” Fares added that they also drank rain and sea water to survive.

The men are in stable condition and the navy said it is coordinating with local and foreign authorities to ensure their safe return to their respective countries.

Earlier this year, another Peruvian fisherman, 61-year-old Máximo Napa, spent 95 days at sea alone. He was also rescued by an Ecuadorian vessel and returned to Lima in mid-March to be reunited with his family.

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