Miracle as man missing for two weeks at sea is rescued on life raft

Rescue came two days after official search for missing men was called off

A man who went missing on a boat from Washington state two weeks ago was found by the Coast Guard floating on a raft in the Pacific.

The man, one of two passengers on the 43ft boat the Evening was discovered adrift on the life raft on Thursday. The rescue came two days after the official search had been called off by officials.

The Coast Guard says that the boat left Grays Harbor, Washington, on 12 October and was spotted by a group on a fishing trip 70 miles from Cape Flattery.

“The 2nd individual remains missing at this time. The incident remains under investigation,” the US Coastguard stated on X.

One of the fishermen said that the man had survived on salmon while alone at sea for 13 days.

A photo of the life raft issued by the US Coast Guard (US Coast Guard)

And he added: “Although the roof of (the life raft) is bright orange, it’s still tough to see out there, you know, the human eye can only see about 10 miles in the water, and thankfully, they were just lucky enough (to see it) but also just the fact that those good Samaritans were able to have the wherewithal to go and investigate and stop and see that raft,” Coast Guard Petty Officer Steve Strohmeier told Canada’s Global News.

“It’s definitely a true miracle here.”

#BreakingNews (1/2) #UPDATE 1 of the 2 missing mariners was located alive in a life raft approx. 70 miles NW of Cape Flattery, by good Samaritans. The man was transported to shore by @CoastGuardCAN in coordination with @VicJRCC_CCCOS. He's reported to be in stable condition. pic.twitter.com/Qb2QhwIKb3

— USCGPacificNorthwest (@USCGPacificNW) October 26, 2023

The individual, who has not been named, was taken to shore by the Canadian Coast Guard and is reportedly in a stable condition

“We pulled him on board. He gave me a big hug and it was emotional,” Ryan Planes, one of the good Samaritans, told Seattle news station KING.