Four of the five were carried off the fishing vessel “Ocean Encounter” on stretchers. “They were really weak,” said shipping agent Morton Enos.
Clement Singazoa died shortly after being rescued Sunday, while Samuel Savor died just hours before the “Ocean Encounter” arrived in Majuro Tuesday, leaving five survivors.
Seventeen-year-old Michael Kolvir was lost at sea last Friday and is presumed dead.
“He was trying to dry his clothes off the side of the boat during high winds Friday,” said Alex Kainank, a fisherman from PNG aboard the “Ocean Encounter” who spoke at length to the survivors. “When his clothes blew off the boat, he dived into the water to get them. But he had no strength to swim back and the men on the boat were too weak to help him.”
The remains of the two men who died on the fishing vessel have been transferred to the Majuro Hospital morgue, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is now engaged in making arrangements with government officials in PNG for the return home of the bodies, as well as the five survivors when they are well enough to travel, according to Enos.
The five survivors were in serious but stable condition, according to local officials.
