Man claims to have survived 16 months adrift on ocean

An emaciated man whose boat washed up on a remote Pacific atoll this week claims he survived 16 months adrift, floating more than 12,500km from Mexico, a researcher said.

The man, with long hair and beard, was discovered on Thursday when his 24ft fibreglass boat with propeller-less engines floated onto the reef at Ebon Atoll and he was spotted by two locals.

“His condition isn’t good, but he’s getting better,” said Ola Fjeldstad, a Norwegian anthropology student doing research on Ebon, the southernmost outpost of the Marshalls.