"SOS" really worked. Three Micronesian sailors saved!

[underpants]

'SOS' in the sand saves Pacific island mariners

The three men had set out in a 23-foot (7 meter) boat last Thursday to make a 26-mile (42 kilometer) journey from Pulawat to Pulap atolls in the Federated States of Micronesia.

They went off course and ran out of fuel, landing on tiny, uninhabited Pikelot Island, 118 miles (190 kilometers) from their intended destination, according to US and Australian authorities.

"We were toward the end of our search pattern," the KC-135 pilot, Lt. Col. Jason Palmeira-Yen, said in the post. "We turned to avoid some rain showers and that's when we looked down and saw an island, so we decide to check it out and that's when we saw SOS and a boat right next to it on the beach. From there we called in the Australian Navy because they had two helicopters nearby that could assist and land on the island."

"After discussions between the responding partners it was decided the safest course of action for both the response agencies' crews and the mariners was to limit exposure to one another due to the COVID-19 Pandemic," a Coast Guard statement said.


https://www.cnn.com/2020/08/03/asia/us-australian-micronesia-sos-pacific-island-rescue-intl-hnk-scli/index.html