A recent news item brought to Gilligan’s Island, a situation comedy broadcast on US television for three seasons in the 1960s. The premise of the program was that a small tourist boat on a “three-hour tour” was swept away in a storm to an “uncharted desert isle.” Fortunately for all concerned, the sailors involved were stranded on an uninhabited island for only three days because they marked the beach with a large “SOS” to assist rescuers. 

Recently three Micronesian sailors set off a 42km voyage from Pulawat to Pulap atolls but ran out of fuel. Their 23ft skiff ended up at Pikelot Island, nearly 200km west of where they had set off.  When the sailors were overdue, a search was initiated by authorities in Guam, a nearby US territory.  The US asked the Australian Navy to assist in the search and rescue.

The three sailors marked their location on the uninhabited island with large “SOS” on the beach. The BBC reports that after their SOS was spotted from the air, an Australian helicopter landed on the tiny island and gave the men food and water. The helicopter came from the HMAS Canberra, which had been on its way to Hawaii for naval exercises when it was called to help in the search.

The rescued sailors were reported to be in good condition with no significant injuries and were taken home by a Micronesian patrol vessel.  Micronesia, in the western Pacific, consists of some 600 tiny islands scattered over a vast ocean expanse.

Huge SOS sign marked in sand saves men stranded on tiny Pacific island

Thanks to Alaric Bond and Roberta Weisbrod for contributing to this post.