600-kilometer odyssey

Three men survive eleven days on a broken boat

After eleven days on their unmaneuverable boat, three men (center) from Panama have been rescued in the Pacific Ocean off Colombia.(Bild: AFP)

After eleven days on an unmaneuverable boat, three men from Panama have been rescued in the Pacific. The trio survived thanks to rainwater and coconuts, the Colombian navy announced on Friday.

The three men had been on an odyssey of around 600 kilometers, according to the Colombian navy. They were discovered by a Colombian patrol boat 180 nautical miles (around 330 kilometers) off the Colombian port city of Buenaventura.

Engine failed, drifted away by the wind
The three men had actually set off from the coastal town of Veracruz in Panama to refuel a fishing boat. On the way back, however, their engine failed, as a 30-year-old rescued man said in a video. From then on, the boat was carried away by the wind.

Survived thanks to coconuts and rainwater
They had fed on rainwater and coconuts. The coconuts had floated past their boat, said his 27-year-old colleague: "We fished them out, opened them and ate them."

A spokesman for the Colombian navy told the AFP news agency that the three men were doing well, despite having spent so long in the Pacific.