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.