An 18-year-old from Papua New Guinea has been rescued after surviving 41 days at sea, drifting thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in a small boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luka Rahan was discovered by fishermen from Kiribati on Tuesday afternoon, October 27. He was alone in the boat and suffering from severe dehydration when the fishermen found him between the islands of Tarawa and Maiana.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
By the time he was rescued, he had travelled approximately 2,000 kilometres (1,240 miles) from his home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to reports, Luka had left North Bougainville in Papua New Guinea around six weeks earlier on a fishing trip with his cousin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The journey took a dangerous turn when the boat’s engine stopped working. The two reportedly did not have an anchor, leaving them unable to prevent the current from carrying their small vessel farther into the ocean.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the days passed, the boat continued drifting away from home. Exactly how Luka managed to survive for so long remains unclear, including what food and drinking water he had available during the ordeal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After being discovered, he was taken to a hospital in Tarawa, Kiribati’s capital, where he is now recovering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Luka was alone when the fishermen eventually reached the boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to information reported by ABC, his cousin is believed to have died at sea during the week before the rescue. However, the circumstances surrounding his death have not been confirmed, and his identity has not been publicly revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The tragedy means that Luka’s survival has come alongside the loss of a family member who had originally joined him on the fishing trip.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
News of the rescue reached Jonathan Anthony Kunau, an engineer from Papua New Guinea who works in Tarawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After hearing what had happened, Kunau decided to visit Luka at the hospital. He explained to ABC that he felt a personal connection because they came from the same country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s from my country, he\u2019s my countryman,\u201d Kunau said, describing his visit as an effort to provide moral support.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kunau also used the opportunity to share an important warning with people who travel in small boats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He encouraged fishermen to carry essential safety equipment, including a compass, an anchor and a phone, so they have a better chance of responding if something goes wrong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For Luka, the immediate focus is now on recovering after more than a month drifting across the ocean. His survival is remarkable, but his family must also face the reported loss of his cousin.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An 18-year-old from Papua New Guinea has been rescued after surviving 41 days at sea, drifting thousands of kilometres across the Pacific Ocean in a small boat. Luka Rahan was discovered by fishermen from Kiribati on Tuesday afternoon, October 27. He was alone in the boat and suffering from severe dehydration when the fishermen found …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25138,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25137","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=25137"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25139,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25137\/revisions\/25139"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/25138"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=25137"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=25137"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=25137"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}