Two Fishermen Rescued After 5 Days Adrift in Fishing Cooler Off Mexico Coast

Two fishermen were rescued Wednesday after spending five days adrift more than 100 miles off the coast of Mexico without food or water, according to the Mexican Navy.

Search and rescue efforts began August 14 after the men’s fishing cooperative sent a distress call reporting that it had lost contact with the 53-year-old and 32-year-old fishermen.

The Mexican Navy searched a vast area of the Pacific Ocean by sea and air before locating the men floating inside a large fishing cooler about 150 miles off the coast of Chiapas, a southern Mexican state bordering Guatemala.

Both men were airlifted to port, where they received medical attention before being reunited with their families, the Navy said.

Officials did not identify the fishermen, and it remains unclear how their fishing vessel became disabled.

Video released by the Mexican Navy shows the two men inside a large turquoise cooler bobbing in dark ocean swells as rescue crews approach. A ship eventually reaches them and the fishermen are hoisted to safety.

“We didn’t think we were going to survive these days,” one of the fishermen said in the video. “The only thing we could do was pray to God and wait for the help of all of you here from the Navy.”

The second fisherman described the ordeal as the hardest experience imaginable.

“I wouldn’t wish it on anybody – not even my worst enemy,” he said.

The men said they ate and drank “absolutely nothing” during their five days stranded at sea.

The rescue highlighted the challenges of searching for people lost in the vast Pacific Ocean and demonstrated the Mexican Navy’s commitment to protecting human life at sea, the Navy said.