Castaways on remote Micronesian island saved after scrawling SOS in sand

A COUPLE in their fifties were rescued after a week stranded on a remote Micronesian island when aircraft crews spotted their desperate message.

The castaways signalled to a US Navy P-8A Poseidon aircraft from the uninhabited island in Micronesia, Hawaii.

A COUPLE stranded on a remote desert island in Micronesia were rescued after scrawling “SOS” in the sand in huge letters.

The sailors had been missing for a week, after leaving Weno Island on August 17, the US coastguard reported.

They were expected to arrive at Tamatam Island the following day, but two days later, the 5.5-metre boat was reported missing after the pair failed to arrive at their destination.

The coastguard initiated an enormous search, covering nearly 27,000 square kilometres and involving 15 boats and two aircraft.

On Wednesday, a ship noticed flashing lights from the uninhabited East Fayu island in Chuuk State. The US Navy was alerted and crew members in a P-8A Poseidon aircraft spotted castaways, both in their fifties, on the beach.

They raised the alarm with the US coastguard, and the man and woman were picked up from the Pacific island and taken to a patrol boat.

The couple, identified as Linus and Sabina Jack, had limited supplies and no emergency equipment.

The couple, in their fifties, had been stranded on the remote desert island with limited supplies for a week. Picture: US Navy

They were rescued after a search mission involving 15 boats and two aircraft.

“The Search and Rescue Operation for Linus and Sabina Jack has been successfully completed,” the US Embassy in Kolonia, the capital of the Federated States of Micronesia, reported on Friday.

“They are found and are waiting for a ship to take them home.”

The extraordinary rescue story is remarkably similar to one from April, in which three US navy crew members spelled out the world “HELP” with palm tree branches after they were stranded on a Micronesian island.

The castaways swam 1.6 kilometres to the uninhabited island of Fanadik after their tiny skiff capsized during rough weather after departing the Pacific island Pulap.

The 5.7 metre boat ran into trouble a few hours after it departed the Micronesian island of Pulap and the mariners were marooned on Fanadik for three days.

Three castaways on a Pacific island were saved after spelling out “Help” with palm tree branches back in April.