3 Indonesians stranded in Palau

3 Indonesians stranded in Palau

KOROR, Palau: Three Indonesians in a narrow, seven-meter
outrigger canoe used to taxi people between islands in Indonesia
washed ashore here after 10 days in the open ocean with nothing
to eat or drink but a few drifting coconuts, authorities said on
Friday.

All three are recovering well at a hospital in Angaur, the
southernmost, sparsely populated main island of Palau, where they
washed ashore, more than 480 kilometers from their starting
point.

The eldest passenger, identified by authorities as 52-year-old
Mariones Sasoeng, was dehydrated and had to be given fluids
intravenously. A resident had found them wandering on the beach.

"They were in bad shape," said Jonathan Rafael, the husband of
the nurse caring for the three castaways.

Only planning to travel between islands, they had no fishing
gear, and they failed to get any rain, which they could have
caught for drinking.

According to the account relayed through a translator, the
canoe's makeshift engine failed while they were traveling from
the island of Raenes to the island of Tabang on May 16, typically
an hour-long trip.

The 31-year-old boat operator, identified as Kamurahan
Sasoeng, attempted to fix the engine but the wind soon pushed
them far out to sea. By the time the engine was repaired, no land
was in sight.

"They had one liter of gas left," said Joe Giramur, a senior
officer with the Palau Bureau of Immigration.

Coming strong from the southwest, the wind carried them to
Angaur, threading a nautical needle by finding a dot of land in
the ocean.

"They were very lucky," said Benito Thomas, Palau's director
of immigration.