Three Boys Feared Lost Are Found in Pacific

Three teenagers who were adrift in the South Pacific for 50 days have been found alive by a fishing vessel, officials here said Thursday.

The two 15-year-olds and one 14-year-old, from the Tokelau Islands of New Zealand, had long been presumed dead when their small aluminum dinghy was spotted Wednesday afternoon.

“As we got closer, we could see that it was a small craft,” Tai Fredricsen, the first mate of the fishing vessel, the San Nikuna, said by phone from the ship on Thursday. “We could see that it was three occupants inside. And I could bring the vessel right up beside them, and I asked them, do they need any help? And they replied, yes, they do.”

The boys were identified as Samuel Pelesa and Filo Filo, both 15, and Edward Nasau, 14. They had been rowing in the Atafu Atoll in the Tokelau Islands, a remote sprinkling of islets about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii.

After several days of local searches, the New Zealand Air Force searched the area by plane, and also failed to find them.

Mr. Fredricsen said the boys had 20 coconuts on board when they disappeared, which they ate within the first two days. For the next 48 days they survived by capturing water during the night, and catching and eating fish and a “sea bird.”

The teenagers were very thin, but in good spirits, Mr. Fredricsen said. “Their bones were protruding from underneath their skin,” he said. “But mentally and spiritually, very high.”

An air force spokesman, Squadron Leader Kavae Tamariki, said the chance of finding the boys had been remarkably slim. “It’s only a small dot to try and pick them up on the radar,” he said.

On Atafu, residents were celebrating. “It’s a miracle,” said Fuimanu Kirifi, adding that everyone was “quite overwhelmed by the news.”

The San Nikuna was taking the boys to Suva, in Fiji, for hospital treatment. On the way they watched DVDs and listened to music.

Mr. Fredricsen said the rescue was a matter of sheer luck.

“This area where we actually found them, it’s very infrequently traveled by vessels,” he said. “It’s not a major route for any ships or anything.”

“Our general course is toward American Samoa,” he added. “It’s just by chance we were coming toward New Zealand to unload.”