Fisherman Rescued After Weeks at Sea

Benedict Jor, 20, was found by an Australian container ship drifting in the St. Andre Strait off Papua New Guinea, north of Australia.

The crew of the ANL WANGARATTA spotted Jor sitting on his upturned boat waving frantically at the ship. He was tearful and elated, telling the crew he thought he was going to die.

Jor had been drifting for three weeks after his tiny fishing boat flipped. He told rescuers he survived on raw fish, coconuts and rainwater. Jor also told the crew that several ships had passed him in the three weeks he'd been drifting but none had seen him.

Benedict Jor was treated in the ship's hospital for hypothermia, dehydration and shock. The vessel will take him from Melbourne to Sydney, where he will pass through immigration and where officials will arrange for him to be flown home to his tiny village of Noga near Rabaul, Papua New Guinea.