By Le Figaro with AFP
Posted 1 hour ago, updated 40 minutes ago
American adventurer Aaron Carotta, who had left South America on a solo trip around the world aboard a rowing boat, the Smiles, had sounded a distress signal on May 31.
A shipwrecked man aboard a lifeboat was rescued from an oil tanker in the Pacific Ocean, 950 km east of the Marquesas Islands, on Friday, June 16, several days after the search for aid was halted, the Republic’s High Commissioner said in French- known to Polynesia.
American adventurer Aaron Carotta, who had left South America on a solo round-the-world voyage aboard a rowing boat, the Smiles, had sounded a distress signal on May 31, the High Commission said in a statement.
The search was suspended on June 12th
It had electrical damage and its signal was no longer received afterwards. Five merchant ships and four pleasure craft took part in the search, which was discontinued on June 12. But on Thursday, the canoe’s rescue transmitter was again detected in the area of responsibility of the JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Center), which coordinates the aid in French Polynesia.
The Smiles was overturned by a wave that set off the beacon and Aaron Carotta boarded his lifeboat, the High Commission said. The JRCC then took advantage of the presence in Polynesia of a USCG C130 Hercules, an American research aircraft that had come on another rescue mission. On the same day, this aircraft spotted the shipwrecked man in his canoe in an area with no islands and little frequented by ships, east of the Marquesas archipelago.
The nearest boat, the tanker Baker Spirit, is 390 kilometers away. He diverts the attention and eighteen hours later finds the shipwrecked man safe and sound. The tanker continued its voyage to Hawaii. The shipwrecked man was scheduled to disembark in Honolulu on June 25.
“data-script=”https://static.lefigaro.fr/widget-video/short-ttl/video/index.js” >