A fisherman has been rescued alive after spending eight days adrift in a tiny boat in the Pacific Ocean.
Héctor Márquez Martínez, known as “Chico”, vanished after setting out to fish from Puerto Ángel, in Mexico’s Oaxaca state.
He had headed out aboard his small boat, the “Josmarcito”, and was expected to return within hours.
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But when Héctor failed to come home, his disappearance sparked a desperate search involving relatives, local fishermen, volunteers and the Mexican Navy.
He went missing on 31 August and was finally spotted on Sunday (6 September) when the crew of a cargo ship discovered his tiny vessel around 260 nautical miles (299 miles) south of Huatulco.
The crew managed to make contact with the stranded fisherman and provided him with food, water and fuel before passing his location to authorities.
But despite finally being found, Héctor’s ordeal was not yet over.
Communication difficulties reportedly meant he could not immediately be transferred onto the cargo ship, as reported by Need To Know.
Oaxaca government secretary Jesús Romero López said efforts continued to bring him to safety.
The breakthrough finally came yesterday (7 September), when the Mexican Navy’s ARM “Monte Albán” reached his vessel.
The Navy said: “The ARM Monte Albán located the small vessel and carried out the necessary manoeuvres to recover the fisherman, who was brought to safety and taken aboard the ship.”
Remarkably, after eight days adrift at sea, Héctor was found to be in a stable condition.
He was suffering from dehydration and received medical attention from naval health personnel.
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