Peruvian fisherman saved after three months stranded at sea

This handout picture released on March 15, 2025, by the Peruvian Navy shows Peruvian fisherman Maximo Napa (C), 61, reacting as he is greeted by his brother upon his arrival in Paita, Piura department, Peru. Agence France-Presse

LIMA, Peru — A Peruvian fisherman was found alive after drifting at sea for 94 days, a navy official said Saturday, as he was discharged from hospital following his ordeal.

Maximo Napa, 61, was rescued in his small fishing boat on Tuesday after being spotted by an Ecuadoran vessel off the coast of Chimbote in northern Peru.

He told local media in a tearful interview that he survived at sea by eating cockroaches, birds and a turtle.

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“I didn’t want to die, for my mother. I have a two-month-old granddaughter — I clung to that. Every day I thought about my mother,” Napa said.

On Saturday, he was discharged from hospital in the coastal city of Paita.

“Mr Napa arrived in good physical condition. He could walk, wash himself. Shocked, but in good physical condition,” said Peruvian Navy port captain Jorge Gonzalez.

The fisherman had set sail on December 7 from the port of San Juan de Marcona but bad weather conditions and the current caused him to lose course.

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His small boat, which had no radio beacon, ended up on the high seas.

“It is a miracle that my father has been found,” his daughter Ines Napa told the RPP radio station.

“We, as a family, never gave up hope of finding him.”