Mexican Navy rescues two fishermen found drifting in a cooler five days after boat sank
Two fishermen from Chiapas survived five days adrift without food or fresh water inside an insulated fish cooler before Mexican naval crews located them 240 kilometres offshore.
The sinking and drifting at sea
The incident began off the coast of Chiapas after two local fishermen departed aboard a vessel named Camaronera from the community of Paredon in the municipality of Tonala. In the early hours of Saturday, 15 August, a heavy wave struck the boat and caused it to sink within seconds. The two men, identified as Daniel Guerrero Martinez (reported as 53 or 54 years old) and Jose Luis Portela Villegas (reported between 32 and 37 years old), grabbed whatever floating equipment remained on the surface. They managed to climb into a large turquoise insulated cooler alongside several empty petrol canisters before their vessel went under. Their fishing cooperative had lost contact on Friday, 14 August, and sent an emergency distress call to maritime authorities.
Five days without water or food
The two men drifted across the Pacific Ocean for five consecutive days without supplies, shelter, or drinking water. With no rainfall throughout the period, daytime heat and dehydration created severe physical distress as currents carried the container toward maritime borders near Guatemala. Guerrero Martinez later described the difficulty of enduring the open ocean without means to catch fish or collect rain.
We did not believe we were going to survive these days. All we could do was pray to God and wait for help from everyone here in the Navy.
Jose Luis Portela Villegas similarly described the extreme conditions they faced while exposed to the elements on the water.
It was the hardest thing imaginable. I would not wish that on anyone, not even on my worst enemy.
Naval search and offshore rescue
The Mexican Navy deployed ships and surveillance aircraft across a broad search grid in the Pacific Ocean. Rescuers combed nautical sectors extending past the southern coastline of Chiapas, where search teams surveyed vast areas of water. On Wednesday, 19 August, a small reconnaissance plane spotted the floating cooler after the two men waved a cloth sack to attract the pilot's attention. Naval vessels reached the location roughly 240 kilometres from the Chiapas shore (with initial reports placing the distance between 160 and 204 kilometres) and brought both men aboard.
- Fishing cooperative loses contact with the Camaronera and issues a distress call
- A wave sinks the vessel before dawn, forcing the crew into an insulated cooler
- A search plane spots the men waving a sack, and naval ships extract them
Medical recovery and return home
Following the extraction, naval medical personnel carried out an initial health assessment on board the rescue vessel. A military helicopter then airlifted both survivors directly to port facilities at Puerto Chiapas to receive specialized medical treatment for severe dehydration. Speaking from a wheelchair in Puerto Chiapas before reuniting with his family, Guerrero Martinez stated that he planned to retire from commercial fishing entirely. Naval authorities subsequently discharged both men to return to their families in Paredon.
