Coast Guard, Navy rescue 3 stranded men after spotting 'HELP' sign made with palm leaves

United States Coast Guard and U.S Navy teams teamed up this week and rescued three men found on remote island in the Pacific Ocean lost at sea for more than a week, federal officials said.

The fishermen, all in their 40s, had been stranded on Pikelot Atoll, an uninhabited coral island about 415 miles southeast of Guam.

The rescue marks the second time in less than four years crews rescued castaways found on the tiny island. 

The men spelled “HELP” using palm fronds laid on a white-sand beach before being rescued Tuesday, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.

The men, three relatives who had not been publicly identified as of Thursday, were found in good condition and expected to survive.

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How did the people lost at sea get stranded on the island?

Coast Guard officials said the fishermen departed on Easter from Polowat Atoll, part of Micronesia, in a small 20-foot open skiff bound for waters around the island where crews eventually rescued them.

According to a news release, the men had experience in navigating the waters around the island, but at some point, the boat's outboard motor was caught by swells and its motor was damaged.

The trio made it ashore on the uninhabited island, but officials said their radio battery ran out of power before they could call for help.

Niece reported her three uncles missing

On April 6, the U.S. Coast Guard in Guam received a distress call from a woman who reported her three uncles had not returned from a fishing trip.

Crews soon teamed up with the Navy for the rescue mission which officials said spanned over 78,000 square nautical miles. 

On Monday, crews in a U.S. Coast Guard HC-130J Hercules aircraft from Air Station Barbers Point in Hawaii searching for the missing boaters, flew over the island and spotted a sign in its white sand.

"In a remarkable testament to their will to be found, the mariners spelled out "HELP" on the beach using palm leaves, a crucial factor in their discovery," U.S. Coast Guard Lt. Chelsea Garcia, said. "This act of ingenuity was pivotal in guiding rescue efforts directly to their location."

Crew on board the aircraft dropped survival packages to the mariners until further assistance could arrive, officials wrote in the release.

On Tuesday morning, crews aboard the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Oliver Henry rescued the mariners and returned them and their outboard boat to Polowat Atoll, about 100 nautical miles from the island.

Previous castaways spelled SOS on beach on same island in 2020

Nearly four years ago, three other boaters in a 23-foot boat who departed from Polowat Atoll on July 30, 2020, also washed onto the same island after their boat ran out of gas.

The crew spelled out a giant “SOS” sign on the beach which was spotted by the crew of a US Air Force tanker operating out of Andersen Air Force Base on Guam.

The men were missing for three days before U.S. Coast Guard and Australian naval units rescued them.

As a safety precaution, the U.S. Coast Guard "strongly recommends all boaters equip" their vessels with an Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.