Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa, 61, has been reunited with his family after being lost at sea for 95 days. Napa set sail from the town of Marcona in southern Peru on December 7. What was supposed to be a standard two-week fishing expedition turned into a three-month ordeal.
Ten days into the journey, a severe storm hit. His small vessel blew off course, and he ended up adrift in the Pacific Ocean. For almost three months, he drifted on the high seas, praying for survival and to see his family and two-month-old granddaughter again.
Photo: Naval Peru/X
Cockroaches and turtles
With almost no provisions, Napa ate cockroaches, seabirds, and even turtles to survive. He had to depend on collecting rainwater to drink. He ate nothing for the last 15 days before his rescue.
After his disappearance, Napa’s family and groups of fishermen searched for him, to no avail. Then on March 12, an Ecuadorian fishing patrol spotted his boat 1,094km off the coast of northern Peru. Napa was severely dehydrated and in critical condition. After his rescue, Napa expressed profound gratitude, stating, “I did not want to die. I’m thankful to God for giving me a second chance.”
Napa was taken to a hospital in Paita, a port city in northern Peru near the Ecuadorian border, for medical care.
“Mr. Napa arrived in good physical condition,” said the Peruvian navy port captain Jorge Gonzalez. “He could walk and wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition.”
Photo: Naval Peru/X
He flew back to Lima and reunited with his family. His mother, overwhelmed with emotion, expressed her relief, “I told the Lord, whether he’s alive or dead, just bring him back to me, even if it’s just to see him,” she told TV Peru.
Napa’s neighbors decorated the streets for his return, and his nieces are planning a celebration in his hometown.
“For his dinner, we’re going to prepare a soup because he has to regain his strength,” they said. “He has a sensitive stomach after not eating for so many days. Tomorrow, we’ll make the food he likes — a carapulcra [a traditional Andean stew], with duck and rice.”
Napa has said he will carry on his work as a fisherman.
