A 15-year-old boy has been rescued after clinging to an overturned fishing boat for about two days in the freezing Bering Sea off Alaska, while his older brother and cousin died.
The teenager, identified by a relative as Derek Parker Aghnaanga, was found on Monday, 7 September, near St Lawrence Island after the 18ft boat capsized during a fishing trip.
Aghnaanga had set out from the remote village of Savoonga with his 35-year-old brother, Sidney Kulowiyi, and their cousin. The group was expected back early on Sunday, but relatives raised the alarm when they failed to return.
Teen rescued from capsized boat in Bering Sea
The US Coast Guard said poor weather prevented its crews from deploying assets on Sunday. Search operations began the following morning, when an HC-130 Hercules aircraft spotted the teenager clinging to the upturned hull about four miles east of St Lawrence Island.
The aircraft dropped a life raft and survival equipment before directing the fishing vessel Northwest Explorer towards the scene. The boat was about 39 miles away and took roughly four hours to reach the teenager, following red flares released by the Coast Guard.
Captain Adam White said the crew sounded its horn repeatedly as it approached, hoping Aghnaanga would realise help was on the way. The teenager was eventually pulled aboard by rope after being found too weak to swim to the raft.
“That’s one tough kid,” Mr White told KTUU-TV in Anchorage.
Aghnaanga was suffering from hypothermia and was wrapped in warm towels and treated with hot packs by the rescue crew. He had been clinging to the boat in water temperatures of about 10C.
Mr White said the teenager told him, while shivering, that his brother remained beneath the skiff. He also said his cousin had managed to stay with him for a time before slipping into the sea the night before the rescue.
The bodies of both men were recovered from the water and taken ashore with the teenager. The Northwest Explorer arrived in Nome early on Tuesday, where Aghnaanga was reunited with his family.
Halibut fishing is central to life in Savoonga, a community of about 800 people on St Lawrence Island, which lies closer to Russia than to mainland Alaska. Aghnaanga’s aunt said residents commonly share their catch with relatives and neighbours.
“That’s how we do it in our community. We take care of one another,” she said.
