The castaway was rescued by a tanker in the Pacific a few days after the search was called off

The American adventurer was on a solo tour in a rowing boat that was overturned by a wave.

A man in a lifeboat in the Pacific 950 km east of the Marquesas Islands was rescued by an oil tanker on Friday, days after the search for help was called off, the French Republic’s high commission in Polynesia said.

American adventurer Aaron GarottaHe set off from South America on a solo world tour on the rowing boat Smiles and set off a distress beacon on May 31, the High Commission said in a statement.

Found by rescue aircraft

It had a power outage and no signal was picked up since then. Five merchant vessels and four pleasure vessels took part in the search, which ended on June 12.

But on Thursday, the distress beacons of the canoe were picked up again in the area of ​​responsibility of the JRCC (Joint Rescue Coordination Centre), which is coordinating relief in French Polynesia. The Smiles was overturned by a wave, which triggered the lighthouse, and Aaron Garotta boarded his lifeboat, the High Commission said.

The JRCC used the presence in Polynesia of the USCG C130 Hercules, a specialized research aircraft that arrived for another rescue mission. On the same day, the plane found a man dumped in his dinghy east of the Marquesas Archipelago in an island-less and unnavigable area.

The nearest ferry, tanker Baker Spirit, is 390 kilometers away. Eighteen hours later he was disoriented and found the castaway safe. The tanker resumed its journey to Hawaii. The castaway is scheduled to land in Honolulu on June 25.