Yucatecan fisherman survives four days at high sea clinging to a cooler

The merchant ship “Queen B” rescued a Yucatecan fisherman who had been missing for 4 days in international waters.

(PROGRESO, YUC. – TYT). – A cooler saved the life of Erick AEH, a fisherman from Celestún , who was shipwrecked  on Monday, January 31, when the boat sank while returning from fishing. After two days of drifting in that fiberglass structure,  a merchant ship en route to Florida rescued him on Wednesday. 

The merchant ship Queen B , 132 meters long, after rescuing the castaway, continued its journey to Puerto Manatte, Florida , located near Tampa Bay, where it carries a shipment of containers loaded in the port of Coatzacoalcos , from where it sailed on Tuesday. 

On its journey from Coatzacoalcos to Florida, the merchant ship passed the Yucatan Peninsula and on the way they found the fisherman from Celestun who had been shipwrecked on Monday morning, but managed to hold on to a fiberglass cooler on the boat in which he was traveling with another riverside , so the fridge was his lifeline. 

The fisherman was found about 50 or 60 miles from the coast, the currents and swells moved him away from the site of the shipwreck that occurred about 24 miles off the coast of Celestún. Once on board, the fisherman received care, clothing and food for his recovery. 

They will take him to Florida and then to Veracruz

According to what was found out, the captain of the merchant ship reported the fisherman’s rescue to the Regional Port Authority and also reported that he could not deviate from his route abroad and that upon his return to Coatzacoalcos from where he departed they will deliver the castaway. 

In the Port Authority of Celestún, which is in charge of Ricardo Canto, the rescue of the fisherman was confirmed. The fisherman’s relatives will travel to Coatzacoalcos to wait for Erick.

How did the shipwreck happen?

The day of the events, the riverside boat was returning from fishing, but a tidal wave sank it, one of the two fishermen named Werner, grabbed a buoy,  was rescued by other riverside people and transferred to Celestún. 

The shipwreck occurred about 24 miles north of that western port. Erik was attached to a fiberglass cooler, the swells moved him away and took him out to sea.

The Yucatan Times
Newsroom

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