U.S. Boy Rescued After Surviving Alone for Three Days on Overturned Boat at Sea

Drifted about 260 kilometers off the coast of Alaska
Survived alone while his older brother and cousin perished

On the 7th, crew members are rescuing a 15-year-old boy who has been drifting for three days in the Bering Sea near St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, USA. Photo by AP Yonhap News

A 15-year-old boy who survived for three days atop an overturned boat off the coast of Alaska has been dramatically rescued.

According to the New York Times on the 11th (local time), 15-year-old Derek Parker Agnankan was rescued by the crew of a fishing vessel on the 7th while he was stranded on the hull of a capsized small boat in a remote part of the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska.

Derek had gone out to sea on the 4th with his older brother and cousin to catch halibut, but the following night, their boat overturned. Derek, who survived alone, drifted atop the overturned vessel without food or water until he was rescued on the 7th.

When Derek and his companions did not return, his family notified the Alaska State Troopers. The U.S. Coast Guard conducted an aerial search and discovered Derek at around 10:30 a.m. on the 7th.

Although the Coast Guard requested rescue assistance from nearby fishing boats, Derek was drifting in an area where vessels were scarce. Even the nearest ship, the Northwest Explorer, took four hours to reach him. The ship's captain, Adam White, told the New York Times that he sounded the ship’s horn every 1.6 kilometers so Derek would know that rescuers were on their way.

The Northwest Explorer found Derek about 6.4 kilometers from Saint Lawrence Island, which itself is located approximately 264 kilometers from mainland Alaska. At the time of the rescue, Derek was kneeling on the hull. The temperature in the area was around 7 degrees Celsius, and Derek was suffering from moderate hypothermia.

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